
Class 
Book. • 
GOEyriglit]^ 



COPYRIGHT DEFOSffi 



INFORMATION FOR IMMIGRANTS 

CONCERNING 

Middle Tennessee 



AND 



THE COUNTIES IN THAT DIVISION 



TRAVERSED BY OR 
TRIBUTARY TO 



The Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Ry. 



"A land of gushing springs, sunny skies, productive 
soils and generous crops." 



By J. B. Killebrew, Ph.D. 

Former Commissioner of Agriculture, Statistics and Mines for Tennessee, 

and now in charge of Immigration for the 

NASHVILLE, CHATTANOOGA & ST. LOUIS RY. . 



ISSUED BY THE PASSENGER DEPARTMENT. 

W. L. DANLEY, Gen'l Pass. Ag't, Nashville, Tenn. 



NASHVILLE, TEN 
Marshall & Bruce Co 



{ APR 4 -1898 ) 

.,PK IKT BH^0fC0Vf V 



2nd COPY,' 
1896. 



J* 




OUR FINEST PRODUCT. 



COPYRIGHT, 1898, BY N., C. & ST. L. R'Y. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



THE accompanying work, whatever else may be 
thought of it, is truthful. It tells the facts as 
they exist about Middle Tennessee. Home- 
seekers may rely with confidence upon all the state- 
ments made concerning the soils, timber, crops, min- 
erals, markets, etc. The worst possible policy for the 
railroad would be to deceive those who propose to 
settle on it for, a dissatisfied or deceived immigrant 
can do more harm to the cause of immigration than one 
hundred satisfied ones can do good. Out of the two 
thousand northern families that have settled on the 
Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway during the 
past five years there are not a dozen who are dissatis- 
fied with the country or the people. An immigrant 
runs no risk in coming to the region through which 
this road passes, for its climate is pleasant and health- 
ful; its soils cheap and productive; its transportation 
and markets good; its people law-abiding and hospi- 
table. Its seasons are such as never to produce crop 
failures. Fuel and water are abundant everywhere, 
and the number of crops that are grown to perfection 
are greater than are grown elsewhere. The winters 
are usually mild, at times severe, but this severity is 
of short duration. For nine months in the year green 
crops may usually be relied upon to furnish grazing 
to live stock. 

A farmer would become financially independent if 
he would only save the difference in the amount neces- 
sary 10 provide for the exigencies of the winters in 
the Northwest as compared with the outlay required 
for the same purpose in Tennessee. The climate m 
Tennessee may be said to contribute this much to his 
prosperity. There is no sense in giving away half of 
one's earnings to take him through the winter, when 
by removing five hundred miles farther South he may 
live in a climate far healthier and equally as pro- 
ductive, and save this expenditure. 

No case of yellow fever ever originated in Middle 
Tennessee. 



Information for Immigrants 

MIDDLE TENNESSEE. 



THERE is not in all America a more charming or 
a more fruitful region naturally than that 
known as Middle Tennessee, which extends from 
near the middle of the Cumberland Table-land on the 
east to the Tennessee River on the west. It has a 
superficial area of 18,126 square miles out of the 
42,o^0 embraced in the State of Tennessee. The follow- 
ing counties are included in Middle Tennessee, viz: 
Bedford, Cannon, Cheatham, Clay, Coffee, Cumberland, 
Davidson, DeKalb', Dickson, Fentress, Franklin, Giles, 
Grundy, Humphreys, Hickman, Houston, Jackson, 
Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Macon, Marshall, Maury, 
.\kmtgornery, Moore, Overton, Perry, Pickett, Putnam, 
Robertson, Rutherford, Smith, Stew T art, Sumner, Trous- 
dale, YanBuren, Warren, Wayne, White, Williamson, 
and Wilson, making forty-one in all. 

Statistics. — In 1890, out of a total population for the 
State of 1,767,518, Middle Tennessee had 713,992, of 
whom 539,750, or 75.13 per cent., were white, and 177,- 
561, or 24.87 per cent., were colored. In 1880 the total 
population of Middle Tennessee was 660,408, of whom 
485,378, or 73 per cent., were white, and 181,030, or 
27 per cent., negroes. There were 3,770 other persons 
in the State, which embraced the Chinese, Japanese, 
and civilized Indians. These have not been included 
in the estimate of the population for Middle Tennessee. 
Between 1880 and 1890 the whole population of Middle 
Tennessee increased 7.1 per cent. While the white 
population increased 11.2 per cent., the negroes de- 
creased 4 per cent. The number of persons to the 
square miles in Middle Tennessee in 1890 was 39.4; in 
1880, 36.7. . The number of votes cast in the presidential 



6 Middle Tennessee. 

election in 1896 for the whole State of Tennessee was 
320,090. Of these, 166,268 were cast for Bryan; 148,773 
for McKinley; 1,951 for Palmer, and 3,098 for Levering. 
Middle Tennessee cast of the whole vote 126,598. Of 
these, 79,054 were for Bryan, 45,173 for McKinley, 957 
for Palmer, and 1,414 for Levering. Middle Tennessee 
has nearly 40 per cent, of the voting population of the 
State. 

The scholastic population in the whole State of Ten- 
nessee, between the ages of six and twenty-one, was on 
June 30, 1896, 728,725. Of these 543,668 were white and 
185,057 were colored. The total number enrolled in the 
State for the same year was 481,585; daily attendance, 
338,176; total number of school houses in the State, 
7,882; number of teachers, 9,135. Middle Tennessee 
had 285,789, or 39 per cent., of the whole. Of these 
210,039, or 74 per cent., were white and 73,750, or 26 pei 
cent., were colored. The number of pupils enrolled 
was 191,733, and the average daily attendance was 139,- 
222; the number of school houses was 3,307; number of 
teachers, 3,897. 

The total number of acres of land assessed for tax- 
ation in 1897 was 25,746,050, with an average value per 
acre of $6.34. The number of acres of land assessed 
for taxation in Middle Tennessee was 11,086,371, valued 
at $73,606,585, with an average value per acre of $6.63. 
The total value of the taxable property in the State, 
exclusive of railroads, in 1897 was $311,372,729, of which 
there was personal property valued at $36,720,503; town 
lots valued at $111,732,120. Of this the total . valuation 
of Middle Tennessee was $134,924,624. The total num- 
ber of miles of railway in the State is 3,044.55. Middle 
Tennessee has 1,032.32 miles of railway, which is one 
mile for every 691 persons, and one mile for ever}' 
seventeen and a half square miles of its surface. 

There were 12,949.79 miles of telegraph in the State 
in 1896, of which Middle Tennessee had 4,716.15. 

The total number of miles of telephone wire in the 



Statistics. 7 

State was, during- the same year, 5,313.40, of which 
Middle Tennessee had 2,307.00 miles. 

Middle Tennessee has about 500 miles of navigable 
waters, of which Cumberland Eiver supplies 304 miles, 
Tennessee Eiver 131 miles, and Caney Fork, Obey's 
Eiver, and Duck Eiver supply about seventy miles. 

There are 1,075 postoffices in Middle Tennessee; in 
the State, 2,660. 

Of the entire land area in Tennessee, amounting to 
42,050 square miles, or^26, 720,000 acres, the census re- 
ports for 1890 takes account of only 20,161,583 acres 
embraced in 174,412 farms, leaving 6,558,417 to be 
credited to wild lands, town sites, railroads, etc. The 
improved lands in these farms amounted to 9,362,555 
acres, and the unimproved 10,799,028 acres. The value 
of the lands, fences, and buildings was $242,700,540; 
implements and machinery, $9,936,880; and the live 
stock on hand was valued at $60,254,230. The estimated 
value of all farm products for 1889 was $55,194,181 
which is about 24 per cent, of the value of lands, fences, 
and buildings. 

Applying these figures to Middle Tennessee we have 
S,619,592 acres in 71,263 farms. The improved lands in 
Middle Tennessee amounted to 4,105,642 acres, and the 
unimproved lands in farms 4,513,950. The total num- 
ber of acres assessed for taxation in that division 
was 11,089,804. This will leave 2,470,212 acres for wild 
lands, town sites, etc. 

The number of square miles in this division reduced 
to acres will show 11,600,640 acres. Deduct from this 
the number of acres assessed for taxation in 1895, and 
it will leave 484,663 acres which was in large part oc- 
cupied by towns, rivers, and roads. Underestimates 
of quantity and duplications by persons claiming the 
same lands will account for the remainder. 

The value of the lands, fences, and buildings for 
Middle Tennessee is $111,589,520; implements and 
machinery, $4,405,630; live stock, $29,922,315. The es- 



8 Middle Tennessee. 

timated value of products for 1889 was $22,762,930, 
which is 24 per cent, of the value oi tne lands, fences, 
and building's of the farms, which coincides with that 
for the whole State. 

Natural Divisions. — There are certain terms used 
in this pamphlet indicating- the natural divisions of 
Middle Tennessee that should be defined. These are 
the Central Basin, the Highland Rim or Highlands, the 
Cumberland Table-land or Plateau, and the Western 
Valley. 

The Central Basin is a great limestone circular area 
in the center of Middle Tennessee. It has numerous 
elevations scattered through it like islands, that rise 
200 or 300 feet above the general level. It is to Tennes- 
see what the blue grass region is to Kentucky. Its 
average elevation above the sea is 550 feet. It covers 
5,450 square miles, and embraces in whole or in greater 
part the counties of Sumner, Trousdale, Smith, Wilson, 
Davidson, Rutherford, Bedford, Moore, Lincoln, Giles, 
Marshall, Maury, and Williamson, and considerable 
parts of Cannon, DeKalb, and Coffee. 

The Highland Rim or Highlands surround^ this 
basin like the rim of a plate, and is on an average 300 
feet higher. It contains 9,300 square miles, and em- 
braces in whole or in part the following counties: 
Stewart, Montgomery, Robertson, Macon, Jackson, 
Pickett, Overton, Putnam, Wliite, Warren, Coffee, 
Franklin, Lawrence, Wayne, Lewis, Hickman Hum- 
phreys, Houston, and parts of Perry, Sumner, Cannon, 
and Hardin. 

The Cumberland Table-land has an elevation of 1,000 
feet above the Highland Rim, and lies to the east of the 
two divisions already described. Middle Tennessee 
embraces only half of this division. In it are included 
the counties of Grundy, VanBuren, Cumberland, and 
Fentress, and parts of Pickett, Overton, Putnam, White, 
Warren, and Franklin. The entire area of this natural 



Geological Formations. 9 

division of the State is about 5,100 square miles, one 
half of which is in Middle Tennessee. 

The Western Valley lies on the Tennessee Kiver 
west of Nashville, and contains about 1,200 square 
miles. One half of this division approximately lies in 
Middle Tennessee, and embraces parts of the counties 
of Perry, Humphreys, Houston, and Stewart on the 
eastern side of the Tennessee River. 

Geological Formations.— The geological formations 
of Middle Tennessee include the Trenton rocks of the 
lower silurian, and all above them, to and including the 
carboniferous. This takes no account of the alluvial 
or recent. Taking' Murfreesboro as the geographical 
center of Middle Tennessee, as it is of the State, we 
find it resting upon the Trenton or Lebanon rocks. 
These rocks with 'the next group of overlying rocks, 
the Hudson or Nashville limestones, cover with few 
exceptions the entire floor of the Central Basin, a 
natural division which embraces 5,450 square miles, 
and has an average elevation above the sea of from 600 
to 700 feet. 

Forming a circle around this basin is the Highland 
Rim, which embraces 9,300 square miles. The line of 
separation between the highlands and Central Basin 
is very much broken by the spurs running into the 
Central Basin from the highlands, and by valleys ex- 
tending far up into the highlands from the Central 
Basin. Notwithstanding this, the Central Basin is an 
irregular, elliptical area inclosed by the Highlands. 
The geological formation of the latter belongs almost 
entirely to the subcarboniferous, 'which has been di- 
vided into three groups: (1) The Barren Group; (2) 
the Coral or St. Louis Limestone Group; (3) the Moun- 
tain Limestone Group. 

1. The Barren Group is found immediately circling 
the Central Basin, in a rim generally about ten to 
twelve miles broad, but extending out westward 
through Hickman County, and then expanding into a 



10 Middle Tennessee. 

long- area more or less parallel with the Tennessee 
River, through the western parts of the counties of 
Humphreys, Lewis, and Wayne on the south, and 
Houston and Stewart on the north. A large part of 
Perry is included in this formation. 

2. The Coral or St. Louis Limestone covers large 
areas in the northwestern part of the Highland Rim, 
embracing the counties of Robertson, Montgomery, 
Cheatham, the larger part of Stewart, Houston, and 
Humphreys, and the western part of Dickson. It may 
be mentioned here that in the Wells Creek basin, m 
Houston County, the Knox Dolomite comes to the sur- 
face by an upthrow. It is of value as a basic lining for 
furnaces, and is extensively mined and shipped. In 
the southern part of the Highlands the Coral lime- 
stones cover nearly the whole of Lawrence County, and 
about half of Wayne. On the eastern side of the High- 
lands it occupies an irregular belt between the barren 
group on the west and the mountain limestones on the 
east, and embraces large ares in Picket, Overton, 
Putnam, White, Warren, and Franklin counties. The 
soil derived from this formation is chocolate in color, 
and one of the most productive in the State. This 
formation may everywhere be recognized by the pres- 
ence of hopper-shaped sinkholes and fossil coral. 

3. The Mountain Limestones of Middle Tennessee 
are confined to the western foot of the Cumberland 
Table-land, and generally to the slopes or benches of 
the table-land. The soil derived form this formation, 
through limited in extent, is quite fertile. In the west- 
ern part of the Highlands in Buffalo River and Duck 
River valleys, the Niagara rocks of the upper silurian 
crop out in a few places. Middle Tennessee has also 
about 2,600 square miles, or half of the carboniferous 
or coal bearing formation of the State. This embraces 
the counties mentioned under the head of coal and 
coke. 

But one more section of Middle Tennessee remains 



Topography and Streams. 11 

to be mentioned, and that is the eastern half of the 
natural division, known as the Western Valley of the 
Tennessee, and of this about 600 square miles are em- 
braced in Middle Tennessee. The principal rocks 
which come to the surface are the Niagara and Lower 
Helderberg of the upper Silurian. The soils derived 
from these rocks are quite fertile, but the surface of 
the country where they are exposed is generally much 
broken into steep hills. The valleys, however, both on 
the Tennessee Kiver and its tributaries in Middle 
Tennessee are very fertile, and are probably the best 
corn producing soils in the State. 

Topography. — The surface of Middle Tennessee is 
greatly diversified, and exhibits varieties of scenery 
the most opposite. Passing from Pickett County to 
Wayne, or from .Stewart to Franklin, one may see 
almost every variety of landscape and surface features 
— mountainous, with tall craggy precipices, deep clefts, 
rushing torrents, and foaming cataracts; hilly, with 
crowning forests and green slopes, upon which thou- 
sands of sheep and cattle graze and rest under the 
sylvan shades, beside gurgling and swiftly gliding 
streams; level, where the waters linger by the side 
of waving cornfields; green pastures and grassy mead- 
ows, and where the fecundity of the soil and the 
amenity of the climate make a fitting habitation for 
high bred animals and intelligent people. 

Of all that vast region which lies between the Mis- 
sissippi on the west and the Atlantic Ocean on the east, 
no part of it has been more bountifully endowed by 
nature than Middle Tennessee. Nature has been lavish 
in her gifts of soils, of minerals, of timber, of water, of 
the productions of the soil, of freshness in the breeze, 
of health for the body and mind, and of freedom front 
the inclemences of the seasons. 

Streams. — The drainage of Middle Tennessee is per- 
fect, notwithstanding the wonderful diversity in the 
configuration of its surface. There is not a swamp 



13 



Middle Tennessee. 



properly so called within its boundaries. The surface 
is tilted towards the northwest, and in that direction 
its great rivers find an outlet. The Cumberland Eiver, 
rising- away up in the mountains, descends by many 
cataracts and rapids. Cutting through the coal meas- 
ures, it bends down into the richest wheat, corn, to- 
bacco, and live stock region in the South, and in its 
exit from the State opens great banks of iron ore which 
has been famed for nearly a century for its excellence, 



TENNESSFE RIVER, FOOT OF LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. 

thus uniting the coal and iron fields and placing be- 
tween the two a region where cotton, tobacco, the 
cereals, and fruits nourish, and where all the animals 
necessary for man's support, comfort, and service may 
be reared in their greatest perfection. Tennessee River 
is born of the confluence of two mountain streams 
that have emerged from the land of the mist and the 
storm, and like a rustic maiden she glides along in all 
her purity of beauty through the valley of East Ten- 



Topography and Streams. 13 

nessee, and pours into the lap of Chattanooga a wealth 
of timber, coal, iron, marble, and grain. Breaking 
through the mountains at Moccasin's bend, she indulges 
in a vagrant visit to Alabama, now dancing into 'the 
mazes of a mad waltz at the whirlpool, now gliding m 
silent dignity, majesty, and beauty by Bridgeport, 
Guntersville, and Decatur. She then enters upon a joy- 
ful dance at the Mussel Shoals, glittering in her jeweled 
vestments, and presenting her most seductive charms, 
to Mississippi, in whose lap she rests but for a fitful 
moment. Then, home again, she enters upon a career 
of sober usefulness for Middle Tennessee, sweeps grace- 
fully out into Kentucky and goes hand in hand with her 
bridesmaid the beautiful Ohio, to be made one with the 
Great Father of Waters, only to return loyal and lov- 
ing to hug and caress her parent State for 140 miles, 
united to her august spouse. In her beneficient course 
she ha«s opened the way for the outlet of almost every 
valuable thing in the South — coal and iron, marble and 
zinc, copper, lead, and phosphates; cotton, corn, wheat, 
tobacco, peanuts, live stock, all the gold producing pro- 
ducts, all the principal bread g-rains, all the most valu- 
able timber trees. She virtually crosses the State three 
times, and gives 500 miles of navigable waters to her 
parent State. More than 200 streams in Middle Ten- 
nessee useful for milling purposes contribute to swell 
the volumes of water in the Cumberland and Tennessee 
rivers. There are flowing creeks and purling rivulets 
and gushing springs in every county, suited for ma- 
chinery, for stock water, for the dairy, and for the 
household, and in a climate so congenial to the physical 
man that the pleasures of life are doubled. 

The largest tributaries in Middle Tennessee of the 
Cumberland are Obey's River, Caney Fork, Harpeth 
River, and Red River. The largest tributaries of the 
Tennessee River are the Elk, Shoal Creek, and Duck 
River, with its tributary Buffalo River. Each one of 
these streams has many tributaries, which supply a 



14 Middle Tennessee. 

large amount of excellent water power. The best water 
powers probably in the State are Caney Fork Falls, 
Bark Camp Fork, and Garrison Fork of Duck River, 
Calf Killer, Elk River, and Red River. The different 
streams will be mentioned in the description of counties 
in another part of this pamphlet. 

Climate.— The climate of Middle Tennessee is one 
of the most agreeable on the globe. The State lies be- 
tween 35 degrees and 36.30 North latitude. The mean 
altitude of Middle Tennessee is about 700 feet above 
the sea. There is just rainfall enough to bring the 
crops to the highest degree of perfection and maturity, 
but not enough to produce a humid climate like that of 
Great Britain, and keep it wrapped in mists and fogs a 
larger part of the year. Taking an average year when 
the rainfall is about normal, or say 52 inches for the 
State, there will be 140 days out of the 365 in which 
there will be either rain or snow. The 225 remaining 
days will be about equally divided between bright, 
clear days and partially cloudy ones, when fleecy clouds 
drift over the sky and obscure the sun at intervals. 
j. he average annual temperature for Middle Tennessee 
in the country is about 58 degrees on a median line 
drawn throug'h the State, 57 degrees on the Kentucky 
line, and 59 degrees on the Alabama line. The temper- 
ature for the cities is probably one degree higher than 
this. The average rainfall for 25 years in Nashville has 
been 50.10 inches. The mean and highest tempera- 
tures for the several months for a period of 25 years 
at the same place were as follows: 



January _ 
February 
March . . . 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August.. 



Mean 


Highest 


Temperature. 


Temperature. 


38.2 


75 


42.4 


77 


48.7 


85 


59.7 


90 


68.0 


93 


76.2 


99 


79.3 


101 


77.7 


104 



Climate. 15 

Mean Highest 

Temperature. Temperature. 

September 70.9 99 

October 59.9 92 

November 48.2 81 

December 41.4 75 

The lowest temperature for the several months in 
Nashville during- twenty-five years, and the amount of 
rainfall, are shown in the following table. The sign — 
indicates below zero: 

Lowest Average 

Temperature. Rainfall. 

January — 10 5.09 inches. 

February —7 5.29 

March 12 5.20 

April 26 4.79 

May 37 3.59 

June 42 4.30 " 

July .. 56 4.31 " 

August 51 3.41 

September 38 4.06 " 

October 27 2.48 " 

November 10 3.85 

December t — 2 3.73 

Average annual precipitation... 50.10 

It will be interesting to compare the three repre- 
sentative cities in Tennessee with some of the leading 
points of the Northwest. In the table below, T indi- 
cates the mean yearly temperature, H the highest, L 
the lowest, D the range or difference between the high- 
est and lowest, and 11 the rainfall or precipitation. 

Stations. T H L D R 

Nashville, Tenn 59.2 104 —10 114 50.10 

Chattanooga, Tenn.. 60.3 101 —7 108 54.97 

Memphis, Tenn 61.5 102 —8 110 53.06 

Moorhead 37.4 102 —48 150 24.53 

Green Bay 42.8 98 —36 134 33.56 

Duluth 39.0 99 —41 140 31.87 

Davenport, la 49.0 100 —27 127 34.80 

Omaha, Neb. 49.6 106 —32 138 33.23 

North Platte 48.3 107 —35 142 18.81 

St. Paul, Minn. 43.7 100 —41 141 28.36 

Huron, S. D 42.6 108 —43 151 22.15 

Bismark, N. D. 39.9 105 —44 149 19.00 



16 Middle Tennessee. 

It will be seen that the thermometer in four towns in 
the Northwest reaches a higher point in summer than 
it does in Tennessee, while the lowest temperature is, 
on an average, over 30 degrees below what it is in Ten- 
nessee. The great range of the thermometer in the 
Northwest makes the climate exceedingly rigorous in 
winter and oppressive in summer, while the more equ- 
able climate of Tennessee makes it far more pleasant 
and healthful. 

The isothermal lines of Tennessee are the same as 
those of Spain, Italy, and Southern France. This, how- 
ever, does not indicate the same climate. The range 
of the thermometer is much greater in Tennessee than 
in the countries named. It is hotter in summer and 
colder in winter. The orange, the olive, and the lemon 
that nourish upon the shores of the Mediterranean do 
not mature in the climate of Tennessee, but the greater 
degree of heat in summer permits of the growth of 
Indian corn, melons, and annual vines. It is also cold 
enough in winter to secure ice, which cannot be done in 
the Levantine States of Europe. The rainfall in Ten- 
nessee is much greater than in those States, and all 
vegetation grows with much greater rapidity. The 
length of the growing season in Middle Tennessee, or 
the time between killing frosts, varies from 162 to 228 
days, the average being 189 days. 

There are but few days in a year when a laboring man 
is prevented, either by excessive heat or cold, from per- 
forming comfortably outdoor work. 

The heal thf ulness of Tennessee is proverbial. Sta- 
tistics show that there is a larger number of persons of 
advanced age living in the State than in any of the other 
States of the Ohio valley. There is a region in Middle 
Tennessee where that fell destroyer, consumption, has 
never originated, and where even those persons in the 
first stages of that dreaded disease are often completely 
restored to health. This is the Cumberland table-land, 
where the climate is alluring, bracing, and healthful; 



Characteristic Soils. 17 

where the sun shines with peculiar splendor; where 
clouds seldom form; where cool breezes sweep over the 
surface in midsummer, carrying health for. the body 
and vigor for the mind; where the dry sandstone soil 
makes it ever pleasant to walk, and outdoor exercise 
can be indulged in without injury to the feeblest con- 
stitution from a. damp soil, and where the beauty of 
the landscape and purity of the atmosphere tempt one 
to long walks and healthful exercise. 

Soils. — The soils of Middle Tennessee, as might be 
inferred from the large number of geological forma- 
tions, are quite varied. They may be classified as fol- 
lows : 

1. The soil derived from the Trenton or Lebanon 
limestones. 

2. The soil derived from the Nashville limestones. 

3. The upper Silurian soils. 

4. The barren soil of the Highland Rim. 

5. The chocolate colored soil of the Highland Rim. 

6. The soil of the mountain limestones. 

7. The soils of the Cumberland Table-land. 

8. The alluvial soil. 

1. The Lebanon or Trenton soil is derived from a blue 
fossiliferous limestone, and covers nearly half of the 
lands of the Central Basin. It is friable and fertile, and 
by its warmth, dark color, and productiveness brings 
crops forward earlier than any other soil in Middle Ten- 
nessee unless it is that derived from the Nashville lime- 
stones. With this soil is sometimes mingled a black, 
flinty rock known as chert, which by its disintegration 
adds mellowness to the soil. There is also, as around 
Murfreesboro, a large percentage of the oxide of iron 
in its composition, which acts as a chemical agent in 
adding to its fertility. This soil grows the best wheat 
in the State, which is exceedingly flinty and heavy, 
sometimes^ reaching a weight of seventy pounds to the 
bushel. Tt does not produce blue grass or barley as 



18 Middle Tennessee. 

well as the soil next to be mentioned, but it is probably 
better suited to the production of cotton. It is the soil 
of the fine cotton belt which girdles Murfreesboro and 
extends to Bedford County, and embraces the larger 
portions of the cotton growing districts of Giles, Maury, 
and Williamson. 

2. The Nashville limestone soil has more sandy ma- 
terial in its composition, but not so much clay. It is 
mellow, porous, highly productive, and well adapted to 
the growth of blue grass, corn, cotton, oats, wheat, 
barley, clover, timothy, and vegetables of every kind. 
It is the soil above all others in the State for growing 
melons of large size, sweetness, juiciness, and delicious 
flavor. This soil, by reason of the large content of 
sandy material, washes more easily than any other 
calcareous soil in the State. In color it is more yellow- 
ish, and not so black or red as the Trenton soil. It is, 
however, for agricultural purposes second to no other 
soil in Middle Tennessee. It covers about half of the 
lands of the Central Basin. The high fertility of tne 
Lebanon and Nashville soils have made Middle Tennes- 
see famous as an agricultural region. 

3. The upper Silurian soils are limited in extent, and 
are in Middle Tennessee confined mainly to the ele- 
vated portions of the counties lying on the eastern 
side of the Tennessee lliver. There are two varieties 
of this soil: First, That derived from the Niagara 
rocks which rests upon a gray and red limestone; and 
second, that which is derived from the Lower Helder- 
berg limestone, which is a bluish, thin-bedded fossil 
limestone, interbedded oftentimes with cherty layers. 

The first of these soils is moderately productive, 
growing Indian corn well, and some of the grasses, but 
it does not produce wheat of as good quality, nor in 
such large quantities as many other soils in the State. 
The soil of the Lower Helderberg, or second of the 
lower Silurian soils, does not differ greatly from other 
calcareous soils. It is a dark gray in color, and some- 



Characteristic Soils. 19 

times chocolate. It is more fertile than the Niagara 
soil, but not as much so as the calcareous soils of the 
Central Basin. The small areas covered by the Lower 
Silurian soils in Middle Tennessee make them unim- 
portant. 

4. The Barren soil of the Highland Kim occupies a 
large area in the counties of Lawrence, Wayne, Lewis, 
and occur in smaller areas in Stewart, Montgomery, 
DeKalb, Cannon, Coffee, Moore, Hickman, Humphreys, 
Dickson, and Franklin. This soil, until within the past 
four or five years, has not been regarded with favor, 
because it is naturally sterile and unproductive, thin, 
whitish, porous, and leachy. But some intelligent im- 
migrants from the North who have recently settled 
upon such soils, have by proper fertilization and the 
sowing of cow peas, been able to produce easily twenty 
bushels of most excellent wheat to the acre. 

Mr. Jas. G. Aydelott, of Tullahoma, and the Swiss 
colonists at Hohenwald, have recently experimented 
with the growing of a high grade of yellow tobacco 
upon such soils, and they have succeeded far beyond 
their expectations. It is now believed that this poor, 
"rejected" soil will become the chief "corner stone" 
in the building up of a grand tobacco industry in 
Middle Tennessee. 

This whitish porous soil is well adapted to the growth 
of almost every variety of fruit. Apples, pears, peaches, 
grapes, and all the smaller fruits make a fine yield, 
and the fruit is noted for beauty, flavor, and keeping 
qualities. 

The lands where this soil is found are usually very 
level, and in their natural condition they are thinly 
wooded. Wild grasses grow luxuriantly in the open 
woods, and supply a large amount of grazing. 

5. The chocolate soil of the Highland Kim is scarcely 
surpassed by any other in the State for strength of 
constitution, durability, productiveness, and versatility. 
It is the soil of most of the land in Stewart, Mont- 



20 Middle Tennessee. 

gomery, Robertson, Cheatham, DeKalb, Cannon, Hick- 
man, Humphreys, Dickson, Warren, White, Overton, 
Putnam, and Franklin. It occupies considerable areas 
in other counties lying- on the Highland Rim. This soil 
is usually chocolate in color, calcareous in character, 
with intermingling chert, and rests upon a thick, red 
clayey bed known as the lithostrotion bed, which in 
its turn rests upon the St. Louis limestone rocks. It 
forms the best lands in the State for growing heavy 
shipping* tobacco, and is equally as well suited for the 
production of corn, clover, grass, oats, wheat, and fruit. 
The farmers cultivating this soil are usually prosperous. 
It is easily restored to fertility when partially ex- 
hausted. It never fails to produce fair crops, whether 
the seasons be wet or dry. In dry weather the thick, 
clayey bed upon which it rests supplies moisture, and 
in wet weather the underlying beds of chert furnish 
natural drainage. The surface of the country where 
this soil is found is sometimes broken, usually undulat- 
ing, rarely level. An immigrant cannot possibly err 
in buying lands with this soil, provided the surface of 
the land is not too much broken by hopper-shaped sink- 
holes, due to underground water channels. 

6. The soil of the mountain limestone is very fertile, 
and occupies benches on the slopes of the Cumberland 
Table-land. While excellent and durable in character, 
the small areas covered by it make it comparatively 
unimportant. It is a sandy but sometimes a clayey 
calcareous soil, easily worked, highly productive, and 
is the soil relied on for the production of crops among 
the settlers living on the western edge of tne mountains 
iti Middle Tennessee. In its natural condition it is 
densely wooded with many timber trees of valuable 
species. 

7. The soils of the Cumberland Table-land are con- 
siderably varied, in consequence of the predominance 
of clay in one place and of sand in another. They are 
also modified by the varying quantities of humus in 



Characteristic Soils, 21 

their composition, and also by the depth of the earthy 
material. 

Underlying- all these soils are carboniferous sand- 
stones and shales, from the crumbling of which they 
have been derived. The sub-varieties are: (1) A thin, 
sandy soil with but little depth; (2) a sandy soil, light, 
porous and deep; (3) a sandy soil that rests upon a 
mulatto clay; (4) a transported soil made up of humus 
and drifted clay and sand, upon which water has stood 
until it- is bleached; (5) gladly soils, where lakes once 
stood, and which are made up of accumulations of veg- 
etable matter. 

The third sub-variety is best for all purposes. Good 
vegetables may be profitably grown on these mountain 
soils. It is said that the flavor of the Irish potatoes 
grown on this mountain is unequaled by any others 
grown in the United States. Apples also reach great 
perfection, and there are many famous orchards on the 
mountain top. As a health resort there are few places 
in America its superior. 

S. The alluvial soil is abundant in Middle Tennessee. 
All along the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers, and 
their tributaries, there are wide and extensive lowlands 
that are exceedingly fertile. Some of these will grow 
Indian corn year after year for a century without any 
apparent diminution in their fertility. On Duck River, 
in Humphreys County, near its mouth, is a large area 
of bottom-lands four miles in width, covering- nearly 
20,000 acres, that are considered the best corn-growing 
lands in the South. It is usual for the farmers in this 
Big Bottom, as it is called, to grow from fifty to eighty 
bushels of shelled corn per acre, and they plant the 
same land in corn every year. Some of the alluvial 
soils make excellent wheat, and all of them, unless too 
sandy, which is rarely the case, will grow timothy, 
herd's grass, and clover luxuriantly. Fully one-third 
of the farms in Middle Tennessee, owing to the great 



22 Middle Tennessee. 

number of flowing" streams of water, have more or less 
alluvial soils on them. 

This great diversity of soils in Middle Tennessee gives 
an opportunity to the immigrant to select whatever 
character of soil he prefers. There is no reason why 
he may not secure a farm having precisely the same 
quality of soil that he tilled before coming to the State. 
One of the greatest advantages that Tennessee offers 
to immigrants is that one may buy any variety of soil 
he prefers, and may grow any crops for which there is 
a demand, or that may be grown elsewhere in the 
United States, except those that are tropical in their 
character. 

Timber. — Before the farms were opened, Middle 
Tennessee scarcely had a superior in the Mississippi 
Valley for the extent, variety, density, and value 
of its timber trees. All over the Central Basin 
timber trees grew thickly, and the cedar forests in 
Davidson, Wilson, Eutherford, Bedford, and Marshall 
counties did not have their equal in America. Poplar 
was very abundant, and walnut also. 

While the largest and best forests of these valuable 
timber trees have been destroyed, there yet remains 
an ample supply to last for many decades if proper care 
is taken in preserving the forests. On the mountain 
slopes, on the ridges, and in the coves of Middle Tennes- 
see, there are many bodies of valuable timber that have 
scarcety been touched. On the Highland Rim, in Hick- 
man, Wayne, Perry, Franklin, Warren, White, Putnam, 
Pickett, Jackson, Stewart, Houston, Cheatham, and 
Humphreys counties, there is probably one-half of the 
original timber left. The cedar forests are almost ex- 
hausted. Probably 1,000 acres would cover all the vir- 
gin good cedar forests in Middle Tennessee. 

The native forest growth of Middle Tennessee con- 
sists of white, red, prickly, and green ashes; white 
oak, chestnut oak, burr oak, cow oak, post oak, over- 
cup oak, chinquapin oak, red, yellow, and Texas oaks, 



Prevailing Timber. 23 

laurel oak, swamp oak, turkey oak, willow oak, black 
oak, water oak; red, black, sugar, and ash leaved 
maples, silver leaf maple, swamp maples; white linden 
or bass wood; box elder; southern hackberry; pignut, 
mocker nut, butter nut, bitter nut, shell bark, and 
shag bark hickory; red cedar; horn beam; aspen; 
alder; mountain birch, water birch, red birch; white 
and red beech; buckthorn; buckeye; black walnut; 
black and red haw; black jack; china wood; cotton 
wood; iron wood; tiswood; sour wood; arrow wood; 
chittem wood; cypress; wild cherry; catalpa; coffee 
tree; cucumber tree; wild crab; dogwood; red, rock, 
white, slippery, and winged elm; black gum, tupelo 
gum, sweet gum, red gum; holly; hemlock; red, honey, 
black, and yellow locust; black and red mulberry, 
,and silkworm mulberry; mock orange; pecan; paw- 
paw; wild plum; silver leaf poplar, and yellow poplar 
or tulip tree; loblolly pine, old field pine, yellow 
pine, short leaf pine; persimmon; redbud; red syca- 
more and brush sycamore; sassafras; spice-wood; 
sarvis berry; black and weeping willow; black sumach 
and white sumach; hawthorne; lilac; chestnut, horse 
chestnut; fringe tree, and probably several others. 

The value of the timber products has increased 
manyfold during the past decade, and there are now 
produced more staves in Tennessee for the European 
and domestic markets than probably in any other 
State in the Union. Not fewer than 240,000,000 staves 
were made during the year 1897 on the line of the 
Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Kailway, besides 
millions in the aggregate of spokes, hubs, handles, 
and rims. In fact, every branch of the timber industry 
is more active now (1898) than ever before in the 
history of Tennessee. Timber lands are still very low 
in price, and this fact doubtless has been the cause 
of the wonderful increase in the lumber business. 



AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS. 



Nothing astonishes a visitor to Tennessee more than 
the great diversity of agricultural products that may 
be successfully grown in the State. There are 67 field 
crops that grow in Middle Tennessee. The principal 
jnes, however, are corn, wheat, oats, barley, rye, buck- 
wheat, potatoes, hay, cotton, tobacco, peanuts, sweet 
potatoes, clover seed, broom corn, flax, beans, peas, 
sorghum, molasses, cotton seed, tomatoes, straw- 
berries, and melons. Besides these field crops, there 
are over 50 vegetable crops grown in the gardens. 
Many of these vegetables, such as cabbage, onions, 
okra, egg plant, cucumbers, beans, peas, squash, cauli- 
flower, lettuce, radishes, asparagus, etc., are shipped 
early in the season to the markets of the Northwest. 
The most important crop probably in the State is 

Corn. — According to the report of the United States 
Department of Agriculture, there were grown in the 
State of Tennessee for 1896, 71,893,446 bushels of this 
cereal upon 3,125,802 acres. This crop has always been 
a favorite one with the people of Tennessee. In 1840 
Tennessee ranked first among all the States in the 
production of this great staple. In 1850 it took the 
first rank as a hog producing State, by reason of its 
immense crops of corn that could be marketed more 
readily when fed to hogs than when carried to South- 
ern markets by boats down the Tennessee, Mississippi, 
and Cumberland rivers. Tennessee also took the first 
rank as a mule producing State in 1860. During the 
census year of 1889, Middle Tennessee produced 33,- 
526,521 bushels on 1,316,599 acres, showing an average 
of 25.46 bushels per acre. Its percentage of acreage 
of this crop, as compared with the whole State, was 
47.16, but its percentage of production was 52.68, thus 
2 [25] 



26 Middle Tennessee. 

showing- that with less than half the acreage by nearly 
3 per cent., it produced more than half the corn grown 
in the State by over 2% per cent. In quantity of pro- 
duction Maury took the first rank, not only in Middle 
Tennessee, but in the State, growing 2,363,414 bushels 
upon 82,093 acres. It was the only county in the State 
that passed the 2,000,000 bushel mark. The counties 
in Middle Tennessee that grew between 1,000,000 and 
2,000,000 bushels, named in order of their production, 
were Butherford, Wilson, Bedford, Giles, and Lincoln, 
each of which produced over 1,700,000 bushels. Then 
follow Marshall, Williamson, Smith, Davidson, Sumner, 
and Montgomery, with over 1,000,000 bushels each. 
Moore produced a greater average yield per acre than 
any other county in the State, reaching 30.60 bushels, 
followed closely by Smith with an average yield of 
30.10 bushels per acre. Maury, Marshall, Moore, 
Trousdale, Jackson, Pickett, and VanBuren each 
planted over 2% acres for each person. It is not 
unusual on good lands to grow from 50 to 75 bushels 
of shelled corn per acre. 

Wheat. — In 1889 there were produced in the entire 
State 8,300,789 bushels of wheat on 877,361 acres. Of 
this Middle Tennessee produced 4,477,264 bushels on 
433,679 acres, making an average yield of 10.32 bushels 
per acre. The production of wheat in Tennessee varies 
from 6,000,000 to 12,000,000 bushels annually, grown 
upon an acreage varying from 780,000 acres to 900,000 
acres. The percentage in Middle Tennessee of acre- 
age in wheat compared with the whole State was 49.43, 
and its percentage of production was 53.94, thus show- 
ing, while it did not have quite half of the acreage in 
the State, it produced nearly 4 per cent, over one-half 
the wheat grown. In Middle Tennessee, and indeed 
in the entire State, Williamson took the first rank in 
the quantity of production, making 527,615 bushels on 
38,460 acres; Bedford came second, with 489,007 bushels 
grown on 39,168 acres. In acreage Bedford took the 



Agricultural Products. 27 

first rank. Then follow in the order of production 
Maury, Wilson, Lincoln, Rutherford, Kobertson, and 
Davidson, each of which produced over 200,000 bushels. 
The counties in Middle Tennessee producing- over 10 
bushels per acre were Bedford, Davidson, Franklin, 
Lincoln, Maury, Montgomery, Moore, Robertson, Ruth- 
erford, Stewart, Sumner, and Williamson. 

Nothing but winter wheat is sown in Middle Tennes- 
see, and the yield in the counties tributary to the 
Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway will aver- 
age about 12 bushels to the acre. This yield, however, 
is increasing every year by the use of commercial 
fertilizers and clover. 

Wherever Northern people have settled, and have 
introduced the intensive system of farming, the yield 
has been doubled, trebled, and even quadrupled, in 
places. They often produce from 25 to 40 bushels per 
acre. 

The price of wheat in Nashville is generally regu- 
lated by the price in Chicago. Usually the price in 
Chicago, with the freights added, will be the price in 
Nashville. Precisely the reverse of this is true of 
the Northwestern States, where the prices are regu- 
lated by the price in Chicago, with the freights taken 
off. The reason of this is that Tennessee has a wide 
market south for all the fionr and wheat it can pro- 
duce. The production might be doubled without 
lowering- the price to any extent, for the demand is 
certain and constant from the cotton States. 

Another profit comes from wheat in the value of 
winter grazing. One early lamb may be raised for 
every acre sown early in winter wheat. 

Oats.— Oats form a standard crop in Middle Ten- 
nessee. It produced in 1889, 3,013,120 bushels on 256,- 
304 acres, which shows a yield of 14.1 bushels per acre. 
The number of bushels grown for each thousand 
inhabitants, in 1889, was 5,060. The entire production 
of the State was, in 1889, 7,355,100 bushels, grown 



28 Middle Tennessee.. 

on 588,138 acres. Middle Tennessee therefore grows 
49 per cent, of the crop on 43 per cent, of the acreage. 

While oats are regarded as a most valuable grain, it 
is not a favorite crop with the farmers of Tennessee, 
because many other crops equally as nutritious may 
be grown at less cost. Many hay grasses, clover, and 
cow peas, the haulm of which is used for making hay, 
have taken the place of the oat crop to a large extent. 
Nevertheless, there are many soils in Middle Tennessee 
upon which from 50 to 75 bushels of oats may be 
easily grown per acre. Oats are in many sections, 
therefore, a profitable crop. 

Barley and Rye are often sown for winter grazing. 
The yield of barley is about 18 bushels per acre, and 
of rye, when harvested, about 9 bushels per acre. 
There were 3,585 acres in barley in 1889, nearly one- 
half of which was in Davidson County.' Of rye there 
were in the State 26,443 acres, yielding 156,419 bushels. 
A large proportion of the latter crop is not harvested, 
and hence the small yield reported. 

Buckwheat. —Buckwheat is not grown to the same 
extent in Middle Tennessee that its merits would seem 
to justify. It is an excellent crop, and grows upon all 
classes of soils. Even the sandy soils on top of the 
Cumberland Table-land yield oftentimes as much as 
30 bushels to the acre. The amount grown in the 
State of Tennessee has been, according to the census 
returns, regularly declining for several decades. In 
1870, 77,437 bushels were reported; in 1880, 23,434 
bushels; and in 1890, only 7,143 bushels for the whole 
State. The Commissioner of Agriculture at Washing- 
ton, however, reported for 1896, 31,488 bushels grown 
upon 13,012 acres, by which it appears that since 189! i 
the production has greatly increased. The counties in 
East Tennessee have been by far the largest producers 
in the State of this crop. 

Irish Potatoes. — This tuber has become one of the 
standard field crops of Middle Tennessee. It is grown 



Agricultural Products. 29 

extensively in Sumner, Davidson, Williamson, Maury, 
and Giles counties. Two crops are usually grown dur- 
ing the same year. The first crop is planted in Feb- 
ruary or March, and gathered in May and June. This 
early crop meets with ready sale in the northern cities, 
coming in, as it does, a month earlier than the north- 
ern crop. The second crop is planted early in August, 
and harvested in October. The second crop also finds 
a ready sale for seed, and it also takes the place of 
late varieties. The usual yield is from 30 to 60 barrels, 
of nearly three bushels each, per acre, thoiigh fre- 
quently a much larger yield is made, reaching even 
100 barrels per acre. The quantity shipped to north- 
ern markets from the principal stations in Middle 
Tennessee averages about 200,000 barrels annually. 
The largest shipments are made from Gallatin, in 
Sumner County; Nashville, in Davidson; Ash wood and 
Mt. Pleasant, in Maury County; Chattanooga, in Ham- 
ilton County; Fayetteville, in Lincoln County; and 
Murfreesboro, in Rutherford County. At all these 
points the production of the Irish potato is gradually 
increasing, the soils being well adapted to its growth. 
It reaches a market sooner than any other crop, and 
the proceeds from the sale comes in at a time when 
they are most needed by the farmers. 

The Irish potato crop for the whole State, as re- 
ported by the National Commissioner of Agriculture, 
for 1896, was 2,130,258 bushels on 34,350 acres. 

Sweet Potatoes. — The sweet potato has always been 
a favorite culinary vegetable with the people of Ten- 
nessee, and of the South generally. It is planted to 
a great or less extent upon nearly every farm. There 
are probably a dozen varieties or more cultivated. 
When grown upon sandy soil, this tuber is delicious 
in flavor, very sweet, and is highly prized. The yellow 
yam, after it has been cellared for a few weeks, be- 
comes a most agreeable addition to the table comforts. 
Usually this vegetable is propagated by slips grown 



30 Middle Tennessee. 

in a hot bed where the old potatoes have been bedded. 
The number of bushels reported for the State, in 1890, 
was 1,973,625, grown upon 23,746 acres, which is some- 
thing over 80 bushels per acre. This is a larger yield 
by ten bushels per acre than that reported for the 
Irish potato crop. Within the past three or four years 
there has sprung up a considerable demand from many 
points in the North for Tennessee grown sweet pota- 
toes, and there is but little question that this demand 
will increase rapidly as the merits of this vegetable 
become better known among northern consumers. 

Hay. — In nothing has the State of Tennessee made 
a more rapid advance than in the production of hay. 
In 1850 there were only 74,091 tons harvested of all 
kinds; in 1860 there were 143,499 tons; in 1870, 116,582 
tons; in 1880, 186,698 tons; and in 1890, 630,417 tons; 
showing an increase of 238 per cent, in the amount 
harvested in ten years. The acreage in 1880 was 300,- 
251; and in 1890 was 661,705, showing an increase of 
110 per cent, in the acreage. 

The best hay grass grown in the State is timothy, 
which does well on all well-drained river basins, and 
on deep upland soils, making a yield in a favorable 
season of from one and a half to three tons per acre. 
With proper care a timothy meadow should last in 
Middle Tennessee from eight to ten years. Herd's 
grass is also much used as a hay grass, and while it is 
hardier than timothy, and is better adapted to all 
kinds of soils, it is not so prolific in yield, nor is the 
hay so valuable. 

Orchard grass is sometimes mowed for hay, but this 
grass is better adapted for grazing purposes. Prob- 
ably there is a larger quantity of clover hay made 
than any other kind, but it is used almost entirely for 
home consumption, and is rarely sold on the market 
or shipped abroad. From three to five tons to the acre 
of this hay may be made on fertile soils. Quite re- 
cently the haulm of peas has been employed for mak- 



Agricultural Products. 31 

ing a very nutritious forage, which is especially prized 
for the feeding of sheep and cattle. 

Peanut hay is also extensively made in Perry, Hick- 
man, Dickson, and other counties where the peanut is 
grown. In nutritive qualities it is the equal of any 
hay made. 

The black pea, sown at the rate of iy 2 bushels per 
acre, will make an enormous quantity of vine, which, 
if cut when the first pods are beginning to turn yellow, 
and before the leaves begin to fall, will often make 
three or four tons of excellent hay to the acre, and 
leave the land in the best possible condition for wheat. 
German millet and Hungarian grass are forage 
plants which are largely used for making hay in 
Middle Tennessee, but they are very injurious to the 
/ soil, especially if the seeds with their large content of 
oil are allowed to mature. 

Eecently much forage has been made from sorghum 
for the feeding of cattle. It has become a very popu- 
lar crop for this purpose, on account of its nutritious 
qualities and large yield. 

Middle Tennessee produces by far the largest quan- 
tity of hay of any other division of the State. Out of 
the 630,417 tons harvested in 1890, it produced 279,940 
tons, or over 44 per cent, of the whole. 

Cotton.— The production of cotton has been gradu- 
ally declining in Middle Tennessee for many years. 
Stock-breeding and the growing of vegetables are tak- 
ing its place in all the more central counties. The 
total area planted in cotton in Middle Tennessee in 
1889 was 107,026 acres, which gave a production of 
17,166 bales, showing a yield of .16 of a bale per acre, or 
a bale to 6.25 acres. In 1879 there were produced 
52,948 bales in Middle Tennessee. Giles County with 
35,808 acres, and a production of 5,416 bales, took the 
first rank in Middle Tennessee in 1889. Nothing more" 
clearly shows how unfavorable and disastrous was the 
season for cotton in 1889 than a comparison of the 



Agricultural Products. 33 

production of this county for that year with the pre- 
vious census year. In 1879, from 31,416 acres there 
were harvested 13,802 bales, or with 4,392 fewer acres 
there were 8,386 more bales gathered. In the year 
1889 there was .15 of a bale to the acre in Giles County, 
or a bale for 6.61 acres. In 1879 there was .44 of a bale 
to the acre, or a bale for 2.27 acres. Eutherford 
County took the second rank in 1889, producing- 4,729 
bales from 24,890 acres. In 1879 it produced 12,414 
bales from 32,657 acres. These two counties, Giles and 
Eutherford, in recent years make much more than half 
the cotton grown in Middle Tennessee. In 1889 West 
Tennessee had 84.12 per cent, of the acreage in cotton 
in the State, and produced 89.54 per cent, of the crop. 
Middle Tennessee had 14.36 per cent, of the acreage, 
and produced 9.08 per cent, of the crop. East Ten- 
nessee had 1.52 per cent, of the acreage, and had 1.38 
per cent, of the production. The entire production 
for the State in 1889 was 189,072 bales grown on 745,- 
1 76 acres, showing a yield of a bale for 3.94 acres. The 
production in 1897 was 330,621 bales grown on 722,562 
acres, or a bale for 2.19 acres. 

The production of cotton in 1896, according to the 
report of the Secretary of Agriculture at Washington, 
was 304,112 bales grown upon 912,337 acres. There 
is no data at hand for separating the amount grown 
in Middle Tennessee from that grown in other por- 
tions of the State. 

Tobacco. — For more than a century tobacco has 
been a standard crop in many of the counties in Middle 
Tennessee. The amount produced in the State in 1889 
was 36,368,395 pounds grown on 51,471 acres. Of this 
Middle Tennessee produced 26,490,942 pounds on 35,- 
774 acres, making 73 per cent, of the product on 69 per 
cent, of the acreage. Montgomery County took the 
first rank in the State as to acreage and production, 
and Eobertson, second, though the latter county took 



34 Middle Tennessee. 

the first rank as to yield per acre. The tobacco grown 
in Middle Tennessee is largely exported to Europe. 
That grown in East Tennessee is taken for home con- 
sumption. The heavy shipping tobacco of the Clarks- 
ville district is richer in nicotine than any other 
tobacco grown in America, except the same quality 
grown upon similar soils in Kentucky. This tobacco 
is largely used in Europe in giving strength to in- 
ferior qualities grown elsewhere, and which are em- 
ployed as substitutes. Within the past two years a 
fine grade of yellow tobacco has been grown in Coffee 
and Lewis counties, to which reference has been made 
under the title of soils. 

The tobacco growing counties of Middle Tennessee 
are Montgomery, Robertson, Stewart, Houston, Cheat- 
ham, Dickson, Coffee, Lewis, Williamson, Sumner, Wil- 
son, Macon, Smith, and Jackson. Clarksville, in 
Montgomery County, ranks third in the United States 
as an inland market. 

Peanuts. — Peanuts are grown extensively on the 
Highland Eim, in the western counties of Middle Ten- 
nessee. Perry, Hickman, Humphreys, Dickson, Lewis, 
and Wayne are known as the peanut growing counties 
of Middle Tennessee. In 1889 this region produced 
373,177 bushels on 11,398 acres, showing an average 
yield of 32.74 bushels per acre. The entire produc- 
tion in the State in 1889 was 523,088 bushels, grown on 
16,250 acres, and worth in farmer's hands about one 
dollar per bushel. The production is decreasing in 
the State at present, owing to the greater demand for 
the North Carolina and Virginia product, which is 
harvested and dressed with more care, and therefore 
is in greater demand. The color of this nut is 
strangely influenced by the color of the soil upon 
which it grows, taking a light color when grown upon 
light soils and a dark, muddy color when grown upon 
red colored or alluvial soils. 

A new demand for peanuts has recently sprung up 



Agricultural Products. 35 

for the manufacture of oil. The probabilities are that 
the crops will be largely increased for this purpose. 

Clover Seed. — The production of clover seed in Mid- 
dle Tennessee is gradually increasing- from year to 
year. Out of the forty-one counties in that division, 
thirty report to the census of 1890 clover seed as one 
of the products of the farm. Out of the 49,277 bushels 
reported for the State, 27,524 bushels were produced 
in Middle Tennessee. Rutherford County, of which 
Murfreesboro is the county town, produced the largest 
amount, which was 4,994 bushels; Williamson County 
came next with 4,566 bushels, followed by Maury with 
3,624 bushels, then Wilson with 3,473 bushels, Marshall 
following with 2,423 bushels, and Bedford with 2,010 
bushels. These counties produced nearly one-half the 
clover seed made in the State. 

There are several other products in Middle Tennes- 
see that deserve notice, but the limits of this pam- 
phlet will not permit a further mention, except to say 
that broom corn, beans, peas, molasses from sorghum, 
the tomato, strawberry and melon crops were esti- 
mated, in the aggregate, for the State at $1,124,000. In 
addition to this, the cotton seed sold were valued at 
$277,000. Nor does this estimate embrace a large num- 
ber of other vegetables that are grown for market 
in Middle Tennessee, which would aggregate, at a low 
estimate, over $300,000. The total value of the field 
crops grown in the State for the year 1896 was esti- 
mated to be worth $47,332,000. Of this amount Middle 
Tennessee should be credited with something over 
$20,000,000. 

Fruits. — In the counties of White, Warren, Coffee, 
Franklin, Putnam, Overton, and Pickett, lying at the 
western foot of the Cumberland Table-land, the culti- 
vation of apples is a growing and profitable industry. 
The following varieties succeed admirably at the foot 
of the mountain: Ben Davis, on high, self-draining 
land; Mammoth Black Twig, which is a very firm apple 



36 Middle Tennessee. 

and late keeper; Winter King, a large brownish red 
apple, which keeps until March; Ked Limber Twig, a 
very late keeper, with good flavor when inlly ripe; 
Smith Cider, a very prolific bearer; Arkansas Black, 
which has a flavor like the Winesap, a very handsome 
apple, and a good keeper; Nickajack, which is an extra 
heavy good shipper, and keeps until February; Kin- 
nard's Choice, which does well on low lands, and is 
a good keeper; Limber Twig, which is a very hardy 
apple, and keeps until spring; Baldwin, a successful 
grower; Rome Beauty is a very excellent winter apple, 
and commands the highest price of any grown at the 
foot of the mountain; Jennett, Newton Pippin, Wine- 
sap, Winter Sweet, and Halls' Seedling are much prized 
for their good qualities. All these mentioned are 
winter varieties, and many of them are hardy ship- 
ping apples. 

Among the summer apples which are grown with 
the greatest success, are the Early Harvest and the 
Early June. The Hoss apple follows these, and is 
much used for drying and the making of brandy, as 
well as for domestic purposes. Buncombe is an early 
apple, and is very popular with distillers, on account 
of the large yield of brandy which it makes. The 
tree is also a long liver, and will flourish upon a thin, 
poor soil. 

Among the fall apples the Vandevere and the Red 
Pearmain, Sheep Nose and Mangum are the most popu- 
lar varieties. 

The top of the mountain, in the vicinity of Pomona, 
in Cumberland County, has long been noted for its 
excellent apples. Mr. J. W. Dodge, an artist from 
New York, planted an orchard in 1847 near that place. 
He also established a nursery. His fruits took the 
premium at the State and district fairs throughout 
the South. It is said that though the famous orchard 
planted by Mr. Dodge has been in bearing for fully 



Agricultural Products. 37 

forty-five years, yet there lias been but one complete 
failure of a crop within that long period. 

The apples that succeed best around Pomona are 
the following-: Ben Davis, Red Limber Twig, Shockley, 
Large Striped Pearmain, Smith's Cider. Rome Beauty, 
Winesap, Rambo, Yellow Bell Flower, York Imperial, 
Clayton, Mammoth Black Twig, Yellow Transparent, 
Winter Sweet, Paradise, Early Sweet Bough, Maiden's 
Blush, and Duchess of Odlenburg. 

Cherries, plums, strawberries, raspberries, grapes, 
and other small fruits succeed wonderfully well on 
top of the mountain. Peaches are often killed by 
blooming too early, but when they do escape frost they 
are very large and of delicious flavor. Pears and 
quinces find a most congenial soil on the Cumberland 
Table-land. Mr. Dbdge always took the first premium 
on his quinces. Pears are about as sure a crop as 
apples. 

On the highlands west of Nashville, in the counties 
of Cheatham, Dickson, Humphreys, Hickman, Lewis, 
and Wayne, fruits grow very kindly and produce abun- 
dantly. Many of the whitish soils on the broken lands 
of this region are as well adapted to the growth of 
apples, pears, quinces, peaches, and other fruits as any 
lands in the South. On the high hills of Davidson 
County, and especially the hills north of Nashville, 
peaches rarely make a failure. 



LIVE STOCK. 



The live stock interest is one of paramount impor- 
tance in Middle Tennessee. This division has won a 
distinguished reputation for the excellence and high 
qualities of its horses, mules, cattle, sheep, and swine. 
Besides these, considerable numbers of jack stock, 
Shetland ponies and goats are bred. The Central Basin 
is the center of the live stock industry of the State. 
The soils of this basin are prolific in their yield of the 
cereals, also grow clover, timothy, herd's grass, 
orchard grass, millet, Bandall grass, cow peas, and 
many other grasses and forage plants with great 
luxuriance. Much of the rolling lands and sloping 
hills are permanently set in blue grass, and many 
rich meadows fringe the numberless streams that 
tlash in beauty in every part of this natural division. 
In many parts of the Highland Kim there are ex- 
tensive highway pastures. In all the open woods wild 
grasses spring up in the vernal season and clothe the 
surface with living green. Thousands of cattle are 
raised at a nominal cost on these natural pastures. 
The same may be said of the pasturage of the Cum- 
berland Table-land. The mast eaten greedily by swine 
cover the surface of the ground in fall and winter. 
Swine need but little attention during the winter 
months when raised in the open woodlands. Sheep are 
notably healthy on these elevated lands. 

But it is in the Central Basin of Middle Tennessee 
where stock-breeding is carried to its greatest perfec- 
tion, and has been crowned with the greatest success. 

Horses. — The character of the horses bred in this 
division is of a very high standard, as high probably 
as may be found in Europe or America. This is due 
to the fact that this branch of stock husbandry has 
claimed and received the best attention of the most 



Live Stock. 39 

intelligent men of the State, whose time, means, zeal, 
and energy have been devoted to the production of 
the highest types of the equine race. One of the early 
pioneers in the breeding- of horses of high qualities 
was Gen. Andrew Jackson, through whose influence 
some of the best stallions were brought from East 
Tennessee to Davidson County, and afterwards many 
imported stallions were brought into the county. 
Gen. W. G. Harding may also be considered one of the 
first and most successful breeders of thoroughbred 
horses. 

It would be difficult to find in any quarter of the 
globe breeding establishments for the rearing of race 
horses and trotting stock which would outrank, both 
for the character of the stock and the fairness and 
integrity of the management, several of the studs in 
Middle Tennessee. 

Belle Meade, established by Gen. Harding, among 
the racing studs stands unsurpassed, if equaled, in 
America. One of the stallions belonging to that es- 
tablishment, Iroquois, won the Derby, Prince of Wales 
stakes, and the Doncaster St. Leger stakes, in Eng- 
land. His produce is making very high records. One 
sale of fifty- three yearlings from this establishment 
made at Tattersall's, in New York, on the twentieth 
day of June, 1892, brought $110,000, an average of 
$2,076 per head. This is said to be the best sale for 
that number of yearlings ever made in any age or in 
any country. 

A writer in The American, a newspaper printed at 
Nashville, Tenn., points to the fact that "in Tennessee' 
is owned, -or was bred, the only horse' that ever won 
the English Derby, Prince of Wales stakes, at Ascot, 
and the Doncaster St. Leger, Iroquois; the first horse 
that ever ran a mile and a half in 2:34, Luke Black- 
burn; the greatest cup horse ever seen in America, 
Bramble; the first horse that ever ran a mile in 1:40 
flat, Stuyvesant; the winner of the first Futurity, 



40 Middle Tennessee. 

Proctor Knott; the sires of two of the fastest horses 
ever seen on the American turf, Bishop and Vander- 
bilt, Raeen and VanBuren; the greatest weight carry- 
ing stallion that ever faced a starter, Ecuador; the 
greatest sire of stake-winners living, Enquirer; and 
scores of the fleetest mares that ever carried the colors 
of enthusiastic champions to victory." 

A book might be written about the thoroughbred 
horses of Tennessee, but the above shows beyond 
question that this State cannot be surpassed by any 
other in the Union when it comes to the production 
of the highest type of the race horse. 

Tennessee has done much to give to the pacer prom- 
inence. Tom Hal was bred near Nashville. 

For many years Ewell Farm, in the neighboring 
county of Maury, was the most noted nursery of pac- 
ing horses in the world. Hal Pointer, the greatest of 
all pacers, was a Maury County horse; Dallas, Star 
Pointer, 1:5%% (world's record), and Little Brown Jug 
are Tennessee bred. The breeding of trotting horses 
has engaged a great deal of capital in the section near 
Nashville. Within five miles of its gates are the Her- 
mitage and Melrose establishments. 

Tennessee 'is now, or has been, the home of such 
trotting sires as Wedgewood, Bow Bells, Ponce de 
Leon, Tennessee Wilkes, Candidate, Bonnie Wood, Mc- 
Ewen, Beaumont, Red Fern, Frank Buford, Hyperion, 
Nuthhunter, Lookout, Bay Fisherman, Rene, Brown 
Mark, Knickerbocker, Guy Corbitt, Ben Franklin, 
Oceanus, Mordante, Alvan, Chaska, Shandon Wilkes, 
Detroit, Adfield, Ben Fox, Almont Jr., Thor, Scarlet 
Wilkes, Duplex, and many others. 

Mules and Shetland Ponies. — Mules of a high order 
are produced from high bred mares and imported 
Spanish jacks. Hundreds of these jacks have been 
imported during the past ten years from Spain, and 
distributed to every part of the State, thus greatly 
raising the standard of the mules in Tennessee. Nash- 



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4:.> Middle Tennessee. 

ville ranks second only to St. Louis as a mule market. 
Columbia is also a very large shipping point for mules. 
Shetland ponies are bred to some extent, and are fairly 
profitable. They are in demand for children. 

Cattle. — Imported herds of cattle are scattered all 
over Middle Tennessee. In every county may be seen 
some thoroughbred bulls, either Shorthorn, Jersey, 
Hoi stein, Devon— one or all. Ewell Farm, in Maury 
County, was at one time the largest establishment for 
the breeding of Jersey cattle in the Mississippi valley. 
Sussex cattle has also been introduced from England 
by Mr. Lea, of Davidson County, and has given eminent 
satisfaction. 

Swine. — Among the breeds of swine to be found in 
Middle Tennessee, the Berkshire appears to be the 
favorite. But many prefer the Chester White, others 
the Essex, and still others the Jersey Ked or the Po- 
land China. The old razor back, long-snouted, and 
long-eared hogs of half century back are rarely seen, 
except in the wild lands of the mountains, where they 
are expected to make their own living from the suc- 
culent roots of the forests or the mast that falls so 
abundantly from the oak and beech trees in autumn. 

Sheep. — The character of sheep grown in Middle 
Tennessee is very high. It was a fleece from a Merino 
sheep, bred by Mark Cockrill, near Nashville, that took 
the premium at the London Exposition in 1851, as the 
finest in the world. Merino, Cotswold, and Southdown 
are the breeds most generally preferred. The first 
two are mainly kept for wool and the raising of lambs, 
the latter for mutton and lambs. The latter is the 
most prolific. The raising of early lambs is a highly 
profitable industry in Middle Tennessee, and indeed 
throughout the State. Lambs at the age of four 
months bring in the market from $4 to $5 each, 
which is about twice as much as a full grown animal 
of the same breed will bring. The number of spring 



Live Stock. . 43 

lambs sold in Middle Tennessee in 1890 was 51,179. 

These were for consumption. 

The census statistics of 1890 show the following: 

State of Middle 

Tennessee. Tennessee. 

Horses 311,842 • 152,940 

Mules and asses 203,639 103.850 

Milch cows 345,311 142,626 

Other cattle and work 

oxen 620,028 398,581 

Swine 1,922,912 945,079 

Sheep 540,996 290,372 

It will be seen by these figures that Middle Tennes- 
see has 49 per cent, of the horses in the State; 50 per 
cent, of the mules; 41 per cent, of the milch cows; 51 
per cent, of other cattle; 49 per cent, of swine, and 53 
per cent, of the sheep, making it decidedly the stock 
breeding, division of the State. 




TWIN PRODUCTS. 



DAIRY HUSBANDRY. 

No prospective diversification of agricultural in- 
dustry holds out greater possibilities or inducements 
for Middle Tennessee than that of dairying. The 
adaptability of the soils for the production of grasses, 
the mild winters, the length of the growing season, 
the comparatively short time that cattle have to be 
housed and fed, and the active demand from all the 
Southern States for dairy products of high character, 
are a few of the advantages which Middle Tennessee 
offers to the dairyman. 

It will be seen from the figures below that the prod- 
ucts of the dairy, with the exception of cheese, which 
has fallen off rapidly, have increased many fold in 
Tennessee since 1850. 

Lbs. Butter. Lbs. Cheese. Gal. Milk. 

1850 8,139,585 177,681 No report. 

1860 10,017,787 135,575 . No report. 

1870 9,571,069 142,240 415,786 

1880 17.886.369 98,740 1.006,795 

1890 28,314,387 69,919 107.657,116 

In 1890 Middle Tennessee produced 12,562,864 pounds 
of butter, or 44 per cent, of the whole amount made 
in the State; 18,253 pounds of cheese, or 26 per cent, of 
the amount of the whole State; and 47,422,085 gallons 
of milk, or 47 per cent, of the quantity of the whole 
State. 

In Middle Tennessee, Davidson County made the 
largest quantity of butter, the amount being 749,356 
pounds; Maury came second, with 731,810 pounds; 
Rutherford third, with 709,792 pounds; and Wilson 
fourth, with 704,160 pounds. 

The county making the larg'est quantity of cheese 
was Grundy, which produced 4,725 pounds. This was 
due to the fact that there is a large Swiss colony in 



Dairy Husbandry. 45 

that county which utilizes the highway pasturage in 
making an excellent quality of cheese, which com- 
mands a good price everywhere. Franklin County, 
with 3,485 pounds, took the second place in the pro- 
duction of cheese in Middle Tennessee. This is due to 
the fact that a large number of Northern people have 
settled in that county. 

East Tennessee by far surpassed Middle Tennessee 
in the production of cjieese. Knox and Sullivan coun- 
ties each produced over 7,000 pounds; Johnson over 
5,000 pounds, and Hawkins and Greene over 4,000 
pounds. 

The county in Middle Tennessee producing the larg- 
est quantity of milk was Davidson, which returned 
3,082,582 gallons; Giles came second, with 2,555,562 gal- 
lons; Maury third, with 2,451,705 gallons; and Wilson 
fourth, with 2,422,244 gallons. 

Tennessee corn is worth in a foreign market pos- 
sibly thirty-five cents per bushel. If this corn were 
utilized in the making of cheese, it would bring the 
farmer four times as much. One pound of cheese is 
worth at least twenty pounds of corn, and the saving 
in the cost of transportation of cheese in the place of 
corn would of itself be a fair profit to the farmer. 

It is much better to convert all our grain, grasses, 
and forage crops into such marketable products as 
fat beeves, mutton, butter, cheese, and milk than to 
ship them in their raw condition. If we should carry 
our dairy industry no farther than to supply the home 
demand for butter and cheese in place of buying the 
northern product, it will be one step in the right 
direction. Nor can this fail to be profitable. Prime 
butter is worth the year round in Nashville 25 cents 
per pound; good cheese, 15 cents per pound; sweet 
milk retails at 20 cents per gallon, and buttermilk at 
10 cents per gallon. 

Experience proves that wherever the soil and climate 
will permit corn to mature, cheese and butter can be 



4:6 Middle Tennessee. 

manufactured at a great profit at the prices named, 
while milk with a sufficient local demand will yield 
more than 100 per cent, profit at 20 cents per gallon. 

If rye or barley or winter oats are sown in Middle 
Tennessee in September, the ground is usually matted 
with a luxuriant growth of green food suitable for 
cattle by the middle of November. The summer 
pastures of blue grass, herd's grass, clover, crab grass, 
united to the fall and winter pasturage, obtained from 
rye, barley, and winter oats give green crops to milch 
cows wellnigh throughout the year. This constant 
supply of green food greatly increases the flow of 
milk, and at the same time reduces its cost as well as 
the cost of butter and cheese. 

Several co-operative creameries have been estab- 
lished in Middle Tennessee, and wherever proper at- 
tention has been given to their management good 
profits have resulted. One of the most successful of 
these is at Belvidere, in Franklin County, to which the 
sweet milk is brought every morning by the farmers, 
and after the cream is separated the remaining milk 
is carried back and fed to pigs and calves. The milk 
at the time of delivery is tested by a lactometer, and 
the price paid for it is regulated by these tests. 

The dairy products from the creamery are sold in 
certain markets for as long a period as possible, the 
price being regulated by the prices paid at some 
designated point. 

Intelligent immigrants from the North will find 
Middle Tennessee along the line of the Nashville, 
Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway, an unsurpassed 
region for engaging in dairy husbandry. The lands 
are cheap; the grasses and grain crops abundant; 
markets and facilities for transportation good, and 
the climate all that could be desired for that industry, 
being neither too warm nor too cold. 



MINERALS. 



The three most important minerals in Middle Ten- 
nessee are iron, coal, and phosphates, all of which are 
extensively mined. 

Iron — The Western Iron Belt, which lies mainly in 
Middle Tennessee, east of the Tennessee Kiver, is forty 
miles wide and 110 miles long. The same belt extends 
north into Kentucky and south into Alabama, while 
a small portion of it lies in Decatur and Benton 
counties, west of the Tennessee River. About 4,000 
square miles of this belt are embraced in Middle Ten- 
nessee, and it includes Stewart, Montgomery, Cheat- 
/ ham, Dickson, Humphreys, Hickman, Lewis, Maury, 
Perry, Wayne, and Lawrence, in addition to the two 
counties already mentioned as lying west of the Ten- 
nessee River. There are good deposits of iron ore in 
all of these counties, and in some of them the deposits 
are very large, extending over several square miles 
of territory, and showing a thickness of from ten to 
fifty feet or more. 

The ore, with two exceptions, is a hydrated oxide of 
iron called limonite, or brown hematite, and contains 
from 40 to 59 per cent, of metallic iron, from 3 to 13 
per cent, of silicious matter, from .04 to .712 per cent, 
of phosphorus, and very rarely any sulphur at all. 

The ores are found associated with red clay, rarely 
with yellow, and with flinty masses called chert, which 
have been liberated by the decomposition of the St. 
Louis limestones of the Mississippi, or subcarbonifer- 
ous age. Throughout this whole Western Iron Belt 
the deposits may be looked for. They occur with no 
regularity, but sometimes cover many square miles. 
The proportion of iron ores compared with the matrix 
in the banks is as variable as the size of the banks. 
Sometimes three-fourths the bulk of material removed 



48 Middle Tennessee. 

may be excellent ore; again not one-half, and some- 
times not one-sixth. When the latter point is reached, 
unless the ores are of most excellent quality, it is not 
profitable to work the bank. 

The largest amount of mining- has been done in the 
counties of Stewart, Dickson, Hickman, Wayne, Lewis, 
and Lawrence. The quantity of ore taken from the 
McLanahan mines, in Lawrence County, has reached 
as high as 50,000 tons to the acre. The ore occurs in 
various forms, sometimes in rock-like ledges; some- 
times in hollow concretions called pots; sometimes in 
porous contorted masses; again in long stalactitic 
forms or rod-like masses. Frequently the lining of 
the interior of the pots is a red ore called turgite, 
very rich, but very frangible. Forms of needle ore 
occur as well as goethite. Near Clifton, in Wayne 
County, is a bed of red hematite, which was worked 
in a furnace near it in the early days of iron making 
in the county. The carbonate of iron, or spathite, 
exist? in a stratified form at Iron City, in Lawrence 
County. It has been worked to some extent. Some 
iron ore of the brown variety occurs in Overton, De- 
Kalb, and White counties, but it has only been worked 
in Catalan forges. The total production of iron ore in 
the State for 1896 was 577,403 tons, of which Middle 
Tennessee produced 203,766 tons; Lawrence leading all 
the counties with 137,616 tons. 

Furnaces. — Of the twenty- three furnaces reported 
for the State, in and out of blast, twelve are in Middle 
Tennessee, two of which are coke furnaces and ten 
charcoal furnaces. The low prices prevailing for char- 
coal iron has greatly depressed the charcoal iron in- 
dustry. The total capacity of the furnaces in Middle 
Tennessee is 615 tons of pig iron per day. The produc- 
tion of pig iron in the State in 1896 was 219,749 tons. 
Middle Tennessee produced 27,249 tons of charcoal iron. 
The cost of making charcoal iron at present in Middle 
Tennessee does not exceed $6.75 per ton. 



MINERALS. 49 

Coal and Coke. — The coal field of Tennessee coin- 
cides in extent with the Cumberland Table-land, and 
covers 5,000 square miles, though the area of work- 
able coal will probably not embrace over 3,600 square 
miles. The following- counties, in whole or in part, 
are embraced in the coal field of the State: Anderson, 
Bledsoe, Campbell, Claiborne, Cumberland, Fentress, 
Franklin, Grundy, Hamilton, Marion, Morgan, Overton, 
Putnam, Sequatchie, Rhea, Roane, Scott, VanBuren, 
and White. Of these Cumberland, Fentress, Franklin, 
Grundy, Overton, Putnam, VanBuren, and White, con- 
stituting about half the coal area, are in Middle Ten- 
nessee. 

Coal is extensively worked in Grundy and White 
counties, and there are some small mines in Putnam, 
Cumberland, Franklin, and Fentress counties. The 
total production of* coal for the State in 1896 was 
2,633,106 tons, which is the largest output by 127,462 
tons ever made in the State. Of this quantity Middle 
Tennessee mined 477,704 tons from regularly reported 
mines, and about 2,000 tons from small mines, making 
a total of 479,704 tons, which is about 18 per cent, of 
the whole coal production of the State. The average 
value of coal per ton at the mines in 1896 was 85% 
cents per short ton, making the entire value of the 
coal at the mines $2,251,295 for the whole State. 

The amount of coke produced in Tennessee for 1896 
was 332,746 short tons, about 80 per cent, of which was 
made from the coal of the Sewanee seam, and 20 per 
cent, of it was made in the coke ovens at Tracy City, 
in Grundy County. To make this coke 592,393 tons of 
coal were used. The value of coke at the ovens was 
$1.74 per short ton, making the total value of the 
whole amount of coke produced in Tennessee, for the 
year named, $580,115. 

Phosphates.— The most remarkable discovery of re- 
cent years is that of the stratified phosphates of 
3 



Minerals. 51 

Middle Tennessee. This discovery was due to a happy 
accident, but its importance in the agricultural de- 
velopment of the South, and of Tennessee in particu- 
lar, can hardly be overestimated. 

The first beds of phosphates discovered were those 
on Swan Creek, in Hickman County, about fifty miles 
in a straight line southwest of Nashville. This was 
in 1894. The beds belong- to the sub-Devonian rocks 
that lie immediately under the black shale of the 
Devonian age. The beds of phosphates are from three 
feet to four feet thick, and are usually confined to two 
layers, the lowest being bluish-black in color with a 
maximum thickness of twenty inches. The analysis 
of this shows about 65 per cent, of the phosphate of 
lime or bone phosphate. 

Immediately above this layer, and resting 1 on it, is a 
7 layer of grayish rock from 20 to 22 inches in thick- 
ness, which contains by analysis about 75 per cent, of 
the phosphate of lime or bone phosphate. The weight 
of this gray rock is about 5,000 pounds to the cubic 
yard, which is double the weight of Florida or South 
Carolina phosphate. It has rarely as much as three 
per cent, of iron and alumina, and very often less than 
two per cent. In acidulation it is conceded to be the 
best phosphate rock in America, there being just 
enough carbonate of lime in its composition to make 
the acid phosphate dry out quickly, so that it gets in 
the proper condition for shipping- within two days. 
Its finely pulverulent condition after acidulation, and 
its freedom from lumps, make it especially desirable 
for use in a wheat drill, for distribution with the seed 
wheat in the sowing of the wheat crop. 

The Devonian Shale above the gray rock contains 
many nodules of the phosphate of lime, which, in the 
absence of the beds below, would be considered valu- 
able deposits. 

The area of the sub-Devonian phosphate covers about 
sixty square miles, and extends on both sides of Swan 



52 Middle Tennessee. 

Creek, with a width of the phosphate-bearing stratum 
certainly of three miles, and a length of twenty miles. 
It is estimated that this field will. yield over 9,000 tons 
to the acre, and allowing only one-fourth of the area 
to be accessible, there would still be available over 
88,000,000 tons, a quantity so vast that it may well 
be called inexhaustible. At present there are two 
companies mining in this field, viz.: The Southwestern 
Phosphate Company and the Duck Kiver Phosphate 
Company. There are also several individual owners 
of mines who work them with some regularity. The 
amount mined in this subdevonian field, and shipped 
by the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Kail way, 
was, for the year ending December 31, 1897, 26,478 
short tons. The shipments were made from the fol- 
lowing places: Aetna, 3,737 tons; Centreville, or the 
Duck River Phosphate Company, 16,639 tons; Twomey, 
6,082 tons; Allen's Creek, 20 tons. 

Another discovery of phosphate was made near Mt. 
Pleasant, in Maury County, towards the close of the 
year 1895, and mining began at that place in July, 
1895. These phosphates belong to the Nashville rocks 
of the lower silurian age, immediately over what is 
known as the orthis bed, and the stratum is identical 
in geological formation with that of the capitol lime- 
stone. 

The bed of phosphate was originally, no doubt, com- 
posed of the carbonate of lime, with a large content 
of the phosphate of lime. The carbonate of lime has 
been leached away, leaving behind, as a residue, the 
phosphate of lime, which occurs as a porous, fragile 
stone, like loosely aggregated grains of sand, grayish 
in color, and resembling in weight and general ap- 
pearance a pumice stone. It is very easily mined, 
nothing but a pick and spall fork being required for 
that work. 

The thickness of the bed varies from three feet to 
twelve feet. It is regularly stratified, and very per- 



Minerals. 53 

sistent. The top surface is thoroughly leached, and 
this leaching- process has extended to varying depths, 
so that the bottom of the beds is interrupted by chim- 
neys of limestone, which run up into the bed of phos- 
phates. These chimneys are sometimes thin ledges, 
sometimes narrow lines separating the thick pockets 
of phosphates, but there is always a layer of phos- 
phate, more or less thick, above these unleached rocks, 
so that the continuity of the stratum is unbroken on 
its upper surface. The stripping, or overburden, 
varies in thickness from a few inches to six feet or 
more. In a few places the phosphate is hard and 
compact, or rather these hard, compact bodies are 
imbedded and surrounded by the porous phosphate. 
Analyses from many car loads show about the fol- 
. lowing averages: 

Moisture 1.50 

Sand 3. 25 

Phosphate of lime 78.75 

Peroxide of iron and alum nia 4.00 

Carbonate of lime 2.00 

This gives a percentage of 36.1 of phosphoric acid, 
which probably is the largest percentage of phos- 
phoric acio yet found in any other commercial phos- 
phate. 

The extent of the Mt. Pleasant phosphate has not 
been accurately determined, but it certainly embraces 
from seven to ten square miles. The amount mined 
near Mt. Pleasant, and shipped from that point, for 
the year 1897, was 235,141,842 pounds, or 117,572 short 
tons, nearly. There are six companies at work mining- 
phosphates in the Mt. Pleasant district, besides numer- 
ous individuals. 

The phosphate is now shipped, as well as that from 
Hickman County, to all the principal points in this 
country and Europe where fertilizers are manufac- 
tured, and the demand increases rapidly. These two 
phosphate fields are likely to lead all the others in 



54 Middle Tennessee. 

this country. From them were shipped, in the aggre- 
gate, for the year 1897, 144,050 tons of 2,000 pounds, 
and they are likely to double this production within 
the next two years. The j)rices f. o. b. range from 
$2.20 to $1.25 per ton, dry and undried. The working 
of these phosphates has already seriously impaired the 
value of the great phosphate beds of South Carolina 
and Florida. 

There is no place so well suited for building up a 
great center for the manufacture and distribution of 
fertilizers as Middle Tennessee, by reason of the quan- 
tity, quality, and cheapness of the raw material used, 
and of the great number of markets near at hand for 
all kinds of commercial fertilizers. 

Petroleum. — The petroleum field of Tennessee em 
braces the counties of Overton, Pickett, Fentress, and 
Putnam, but there are evidences of oil in the counties 
of Scott, Smith, White, Cannon, Warren, VanBuren, 
and Coffee, on the eastern side of the Central Basin, 
and Dickson, and Hickman on the western side. The 
first attempts to bore for oil were made in Overton 
County, on Spring Creek, in 1865. In 1866, 2,600 barrels 
of oil were pumped out of a well which was 45 feet 
deep. The well was afterwards drilled to the further 
depth of 51 feet 7 inches, when great quantities of oil 
flowed out with a terrible rush, rising in a column 30 
feet high. It was estimated that from 12,000 to 15,000 
barrels were lost. The well continued to flow for 
three months, and twelve months afterwards 600 
barrels were pumped out. Several producing wells 
were sunk at that time, and the oil was all obtained 
above the black shale, and within an area of 150 acres. 
It was evidently stored in the crevices of the siliceous 
limestone. At that time the amount saved was 6,813 
barrels. 

More recently the oil developments have been carried 
on in the adjoining counties, and thirty-one wells have 
shown more or less oil at depths varying from 20 to 



Facilities for Manufacturing. 55 

1,781 feet. The wells in the various localities in 
Pickett, Fentress, Overton, and Scott counties struck 
oil at many different levels, no two being 1 the same. 
All the wells which furnish oil in paying- quantities 
were shallow, the oil being found in the limestone 
lying - immediately below the black shale. All experts 
now agree that the wells are what are called crevice 
wells, and are fed by large deposits of oil from a 
lower level, though this remains to be demonstrated. 
There are two kinds of oil furnished by these wells, 
one known as the green oil, and the other as the black 
oil. The well which yielded the largest quantity of 
oil was bored in Fentress County, and known as the 
Bob's Bar Well, in which the black shale was reached 
at the depth of 80 feet, and the oil was struck at the 
depth of 275 feet. ' The black shale in this well was 
28 feet thick. 

No statistics of production are accessible, but it is 
known that as much as 700 barrels per day have been 
produced for this district for short periods. 

In Dickson County, lying west of Nashville, a well 
was bored on Jones Creek, in 1869, to the depth of 
295 feet, when oil was struck, and flowed at the rate 
of 13 barrels in half an hour, but the supply was soon 
exhausted. Another well was sunk about 50 feet from 
this to the depth of 565 feet, and a good flow of oil 
obtained. Some 200 to 300 barrels were shipped to 
Nashville, where it was refined and sold. The specific 
gravity of the oil was 42 degrees. 

There are some oil springs in the adjoining county 
of Hickman. 

Natural Facilities for Manufacturing. — No portion 
of the United States offers better natural facilities for 
the manufacturer. The raw material is abundant. 
Coal, iron ores, clays, marble, building stones, cotton, 
wool, timber, grain, and phosphates are plentiful, con- 
venient, and cheap. Water powers, not excelled any- 
where, are found in many places along the line of the 



56 Middle Tennessee. 

Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Kailway. The great 
markets of the South, the Mississippi valley, the West 
Indies and South America, are accessible to the Ten- 
nessee manufacturer. The Brooklyn (New York) 
Eagle of recent date, commenting upon the superior 
advantages which the South offers to the manufact- 
urer of cotton goods, says: "The South has the cotton 
in her tields, it can be passed into her mill doors with- 
out putting it on a train or boat; she has water power, 
wood and coal, brick, clay, building stone of all sorts, 
and her land is still so cheap that it is easy to acquire 
all that is needed of it for factories; it is easier for 
operatives to live in the South, too, than it is in the 
North; rents are cheaper, because land is cheaper; 
there is less need for fuel to keep the houses warm, 
and of thick clothing to keep the body warm; food of 
all kinds is offered in greater variety than in the 
North, and at lower prices in some seasons." 

Referring to the mills already in operation in the 
South, the Eagle adds: "They are forerunners of a 
vast industry that will one day be developed in the 
cotton belt, and that will be followed by a transfer of 
the sugar industry to a region where the sugar cane 
is grown. Economy and sense dictate the removal of 
factories to the places that furnish the crude product. 
Normally, there was never a reason for these mills 
in Massachusetts, because the cotton was grown a 
thousand miles away from that State." 



PRICES OF LANDS. 



Nothing" is more unsatisfactory than for anyone to 
attempt to give a correct idea in regard to the prices 
of land. The soils of Middle Tennessee, as has been 
mentioned, are so varied in their character, and the 
different qualities are so interspersed, that on the same 
farm may be often seen a field worth $50 per acre 
and adjoining' it another field not worth $2 per acre. 
The prices are also largely influenced by the nearness 
of the lands to railway lines and markets. A general 
idea may be given by the following classification of 
farms and lands in Middle Tennessee: 

CLASS I. 

IN THE CENTRAL BASIN COUNTIES. 

1. The best improved farms in the Central Basin 
near railroads, from $40 to $100 per acre. 

2. The same character of farms with indifferent im- 
provements, from $30 to $40 per acre. 

3. Farms of uneven surface though fertile, from $25 
to $35 per acre. 

4. Farms badly damaged, but capable of easy resto- 
ration, from $15 to $20 per acre. 

CLASS II. 

FARMS ON THE HIGHLANDS. 

1. Best chocolate colored soils of the highlands, well 
improved and near railroad or market, from $25 to 
$40 per acre. 

2. Chocolate colored soils more or less broken, but 
well improved and in good tilth, with conveniences of 
market, from $20 to $30 per acre. 

3. Chocolate colored soils with indifferent improve- 
ments, land in good condition but four or five miles 
from railroad, from $10 to $20 per acre. 



58 Middle Tennessee. 

4. Chocolate colored soils with poor improvements, 
and considerably worn, but near market or railroad, 
from $8 to $15 per acre. 

5. Chocolate colored soils much worn, but easily im- 
proved, within three or four miles of railroad, in- 
different improvements, from $5 to $12 per acre. 

6. Farms with whitish soils, well cared for and good 
improvements, convenient to railroads, from $4 to $15 
per acre. 

7. Whitish soils in bad condition, but near railroads, 
from $3 to $5 per acre. 

8. Whitish lands unimproved, near railroads, from 
$2 to $6 per acre. 

CLASS III. 

CUMBERLAND MOUNTAIN FARMS. 

1. Mountain farms in good condition, near railroads, 
from $8 to $12 per acre. 

2. Mountain farms near railroad, but much worn, 
from $3 to $5 per acre. 

3. Mountain farms in good condition, several miles 
from railroad, from $4 to $10 per acre, according to 
improvements. 

4. Mountain lands, level, well timbered, from $3 to 
$6 per acre. 

CLASS IV. 

1. Well timbered lands near railroad, from $3 to $6 
per acre. 

2. Well timbered lands eight to fifteen miles from 
railroad, from $2 to $5 per acre. Very large tracts of 
50,000 acres, at $2 to $5 per acre. Timbered lands are 
probably cheaper in Tennessee than in any other State 
in the Union having equal facilities for transportation, 
and for reaching good markets. 



TRANSPORTATION. 



The railroads in Middle Tennessee are the Nashville, 
Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway, the Louisville & 
Nashville Railroad, the Tennessee Central, the Chesa- 
peake & Nashville Railroad, the Middle and East Ten- 
nessee Central Railroad, and the Nashville & Knox- 
ville Railroad. The Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis 
Railway passes through eighteen counties in Middle 
Tennessee, and ten additional counties are tributary 
to it. The Louisville & Nashville Railroad furnishes 
transportation to eleven counties in Middle Tennessee; 
the Tennessee Central to two; the Nashville & Knox- 
ville to four; the Chesapeake & Nashville Railroad to 
one; and the Middle & East Tennessee to two. 

Cumberland River gives water transportation to the 
following- counties in Middle Tennessee, namely: Clay, 
Jackson, Smith, Sumner, Wilson, Davidson, Cheatham, 
Dickson, Montgomery, and Stewart. The Tennessee 
River gives transportation in Middle Tennessee to 
Wayne, Perry, Humphreys, Houston, and Stewart. 
Obey's River furnishes transportation for a few 
months to Clay and Pickett counties. 

Logs are floated down Elk, Buffalo, and Duck rivers 
to the Tennessee River, and down Caney Fork to the 
Cumberland River. The latter stream is navigable for 
steamboats during the winter months as far as Sligo, 
in DeKalb, near the foot of Caney Creek Falls. Duck 
River has been navigated by steamboats as far as 
Centerville. 



NOTED WATER POWERS IN MIDDLE 
TENNESSEE. 



The streams from the most eastern edge of the Cum- 
berland Table-land flow westward down the slopes of 
the plateau, foaming- and dashing in wild torrents and 
leaping- cascades through valleys between the spurs 
and outliers of the table-land, pouring an unceasing 
waterfall over the rim of the Central Basin. There 
long, white lines of mist and creamy foam seem to 
beckon the citizens to the pursuits of peace, pros- 
perity, and manufacturing industry. A description 
of the water power of White County will be fairly 
representative of the region lying at the western foot 
of the Cumberland Table-land. The water power on 
Caney Fork, the principal stream in this region, if not 
the best in Middle Tennessee, is at least the most 
powerful. This stream, a tributary of the Cumberland 
River, takes its rise on the table-land, about eighteen 
miles east of Sparta. Running south, and then west, 
it descends through a deep, narrow gorge hemmed 
in by beetling cliffs, and characterized by start- 
ling scenery. The gorge down which it passes must 
be 300 feet below the general level of the mountain. 
Emerging into the valley, it passes westward by many 
devious winditigs. among romantic hills, to the Big 
Kails below Rock Island, near which the railway line 
crosses the stream. From the railroad bridge, the 
river plunges down one fall after another, descending 
about 106 feet within the distance of two miles. To 
go more into detail, at Rock Island there is a fall of 
five feet. From the island to the principal fall, a dis- 
tance of about one and one-half miles, there is a fall 
of five feet. At the principal falls the water descends 
perpendicularly twenty-five feet. For 250 yards below 
there are rapids with a fall of six feet, after which 



MAPOFTHE 



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c.4 Middle Tennessee. 

there occur three successive falls, within 100 yards 
each, of about eighteen feet. Then succeed rapids, for 
30 yards, with a fall of six feet. Below the rapids 
there is eddy water for 150 yards, followed by rapids 
for 100 yards, with a fall of five feet. From this point 
to the principal fall, a distance of a quarter of a mile, 
the aggregate descent, as measured by Mai. Falconett, 
civil engineer, is 96 feet. It is estimated that these 
falls represent 8,250 horse powers. Below the rapids 
last mentioned there is a succession of shoals until r 
the distance of three miles the Horse Shoe Falls occu 
where there is a perpendicular descent of six feet. . 
many places in the river the channel is compress* 
within the breadth of 20 yards, while at others it 
widens to 100 yards or more. The average breadth of 
the stream at the falls is about 60 yards. The banks 
and bottoms of this stream, from Bock Island to the 
foot of the falls, are composed of ledges of hard silice- 
ous rocks, which have withstood the grinding action 
of the water, while the softer rocks below have not 
been able to resist it. 

Another valuable water power is Falling Water, a 
tributary of Caney Fork. At Williams Mills, twelve 
miles from its mouth, there is a succession of rapids, 
where the descent is 200 feet in 700 yards. Taylor's 
Creek, Town Creek, the falls of Calf Killer Biver. and 
many other streams, furnish good water privileges. 

Caney Creek Falls may be said to belong to both 
White and Warren counties, as the stream is the divid- 
ing' line. Warren County also has many other streams 
that supply good water powers. Among these are 
Charles' Creek, Barren Fork, Collins' Biver, Rocky 
River, Hickory Creek, and a few others. 

Coming to Coffee County we find near Manchester 
much water power of great excellence, and easy of 
access, being scarcely a mile from the railroad. Bark 
Camp Fork takes its rise a short distance from Man- 



Noted Water Powers. 65 

Chester, the county seat, and is fed by numerous bold 
springs. The supply of water is constant, and there 
is danger neither from the scarcity of water in sum- 
mer nor from its excess in rainy seasons, as the stream 
descends very rapidly, having a succession of falls, or 
rapids, for nearly a mile, making within this distance 
a descent of 100 feet. The bed of the stream is com- 
posed of solid rock, and it empties into a larger stream, 
ed Barren Fork, within a mile of Manchester, fur- 
ing, however, excellent water power before uniting 
l the latter stream. Barren Fork, which is the 
larger stream of the two, rises some ten or fifteen 
miles in the eastern part of the county, in a section 
known as the "Barrens." It approaches within 200 
yards of Bark Camp Fork, a half mile before the two 
streams unite. It also has a succession of falls, or 
rapids, furnishing good available water power now 
used for a paper mill. Between these streams is a 
ridge, or backbone, upon which the old stone fort is 
situated. 

Franklin County has many excellent streams that 
furnish good water power. The principal one of these 
is Elk River, where the water power has recently been 
utilized for driving the largest flouring mill in the 
South. One of the most remarkable water powers in 
Middle Tennessee occurs on a point near the Dickson 
and Cheatham County line, about five miles from 
Craggie Hope, a station on the Northwestern Division 
of the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway. 
This water power is known as the "'Narrows of Har- 
peth." Harpeth River here makes an extensive bend, 
inclosing a lage peninsula, the neck of which is a bed 
of stratified limestone, only a few feet across. This 
narrow neck has been tunneled, and a fall obtained, 
which gives w 7 ater power enough to run a large num- 
ber of manufacturing* establishments. Jones' Creek, 
Turnbull Creek, Barton's Creek, Pinev Creek, Yellow 



66 



Middle Tennessee. 



Creek, and Johnson Creek, all beautiful streams in 
Dickson County, have sufficient capacity each for run- 
ning flouring-, cotton, and woolen mills. Sycamore 
Creek, in Cheatham County, furnishes also much ex- 
cellent water power. 




SOUTHERN FLOWERS. 



DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES. 



The counties in Middle Tennessee traversed by or 
tributary to the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis 
Railway are: Bedford, Cannon, Cheatham, Coffee, 
Cumberland, Davidson, DeKalb, Dickson, Franklin, 
Grundy, Hickman, Humphreys, Jackson, Lewis, Lin- 
coln, Marshall, Maury, Moore, Overton, Perry, Putnam, 
Rutherford, Smith, VanBuren, Warren, Wayne, White, 
and Wilson. .These will be briefly described in the 
order in which they are named. 

The assessed values of the railroads in each county 
are not included in the amount of taxable property 
/ given for each county. These assessments add from 
$6,000 to $30,000 per mile of railroad to the taxable 
property, the average being- $13,300 per mile. Nor are 
the assessments for telegraphs or telephones included, 
though they are taxed for county, State, and munici- 
pal purposes like the railroads. 

BEDFORD COUNTY. 

Organized, 1809. County seat, Shelbyville. Popula- 
tion in 1890, 24,739, of which 18,411 were white, and 
6,328 colored; percentage of whites, 74.42. Area, 520 
square miles, or 332,800 acres; inhabitants to the 
square mile, 47.57; improved land, 201,059 acres; un- 
improved land, 120,870 acres. Taxable property in 
1897, $4,536,670; number of acres assessed for taxation, 
291,000, valued at $3,494,790; value per acre, $12. The 
average elevation of the county, 828 feet. The county 
lies in the Central Basin; its surface is rolling, with 
occasional flat-topped hills; the soil is .derived mainly 
from limestone, and is rich; the whole county is ex- 
ceedingly well watered; Duck River flows from east 
to west a little south of the center of the county; the 
tributaries which enter it from the north are Spring 
Creek, North Fork, Garrison Fork, with its tributary 
Wartrace Creek; Barren Fork may be considered the 
main stream, but the name of Duck River is not affixed 
to it until after its junction with Garrison Fork; the 



68 Middle Tennessee. 

tributaries from the south are Sinking Creek, Big- 
Flat Creek, Thompson's Creek, besides many smaller 
streams; there is scarcely a farm in the county that 
does not have one or more springs of pure limestone 
water; limestone is the prevailing rock; the soil is 
calcareous and highly productive; the timber is ash, 
poplar, walnut, butternut, elm, red-bud, sumac, dog- 
wood, black gum, and extensive forests of red cedar, 
covering, in the aggregate, several square miles; 
fences are built mostly of cedar rails. Productions: 
Corn, wheat, oats, rye, bluegrass, timothy, herd's 
grass, German millet, Hungarian grass, and in the 
eastern part of the county, cotton. Stock raising is 
carried on extensively. Many mules are shipped 
South. The bluegrass lands cover one-half the sur- 
face of the county. The smaller industries claim a 
good share of attention. Cotton is manufactured to 
some extent. The farms are in a high state of culti- 
vation; amount of negro labor inconsiderable. Nash- 
ville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway furnishes ample 
facilities for the shipment of produce. The most im- 
portant towns and villages are Shelbyville, Bellbuckle, 
Wartrace, Unionville, Richmond, Flat Creek, Nor- 
mandy, Fairfield, Vannatta, Palmetto, Hawthorne, 
Rover, Fall Creek, Haley's Station, and Bedford. No 
minerals of importance except good building stone. 
Tn agriculture it is scarcely surpassed by any county 
in the State. The crops reported by the census of 
1890 were: Indian corn, 1,735,572 bushels, grown on 
61,480 acres; wheat, 489,007 bushels, grown on 39,168 
acres; oats, 157,877 bushels, grown on 10,962 acres; 
cotton, 280 bales, grown on 1,004 acres. Bedford takes 
the fifth place in the State in the production of corn, 
second in the production of wheat, and ninth in the 
production of oats. In 1890 it produced 47,325 gallons 
of sorghum molasses. The live stock was: Horses, 
8,818; mules, 4,707; asses, 264; working oxen, 48; milch 
cows, 5.545; other cattle, 10,230; sheep, 14,126 — value of 
live stock, $1,550,060. In 1890 it took the fourth rank 
in the State in the number of horses, eighth in the 
number of mules, fifth in the number of asses, and 
third in the number of sheep. Good farms are worth 
from $30 to $50 per acre on the level or rolling lands. 
On the hilly lands from $10 to $25 per acre. Schools 
are good. Probably the best classical school in the 
South is at Bellbuckle. The school tax is 30 cents on 
the $100 worth of property. 



Description of Counties — Cannon. 69 

CANNON COUNTY. 

Organized, 1836. County seat, Woodbury. Popula- 
tion in 1890, 12,197; of which 11,250 were white and 
947 colored; percentage of whites, 92.24. Area, 220 
square miles, or 140,800 acres; inhabitants to the 
square mile, 59.80. Acres of improved land, 77,569; 
unimproved, 76,211. Taxable property in 1897, $129,- 
420; number of acres assessed for taxation, 159,162; 
valued at $1,135,475; value. per acre, $7.13. The average 
elevation of the county in the part included in the 
Central Basin is 650 feet; on the Highlands, 900 feet. 
.More than half of this county lies in the Central Basin, 
and the remainder, or eastern and southern edges, on 
the Highland Rim. Spurs shoot out of the Highlands 
into the valley, one of which, in the northern part of 
the county, extends nearly through it from east to 
west, and forms the watershed between the streams 
that enter directly into the Cumberland, and those 
/ which flow in an opposite direction into Stone River. 
From the north, beginning on the east, Stone River 
is fed by Rockhouse, Carpenter's, Rush, and Lock 
creeks: from the south, Hill's Creek and Brawl ey's 
Fork, the latter having several tributaries known as 
Espy's Cave, Horse Spring Fork, and Burgess Creek, 
the three making Carson's Fork, which empties into 
Brawley's Fork, one-half mile south of the Woodbury 
and Murfreeshoro turnpike, and the latter into Stone 
River, Ave miles west of the county seat. Barren 
Fork, of Collins River, rises on the Highlands, which 
forms the eastern edge of the county, and flows east 
into Warren County. Nearly all these streams supply 
good water power. Stone River, by reason of its 
swiftness and constancy, and volume of water, is 
especially suited for milling purposes. The soils, on 
the Highlands, are light colored, sometimes of a pale 
yellow, often blue, and occasionally red. These soils, 
for the most part, are thin and unproductive, occupy- 
ing level areas, and covered with a rank barren grass 
which affords good summer grazing. Fruits, herd's 
grass, and tobacco grow well upon the Highlands, but 
these soils are not so well suited for general farming 
as the soils of the part lying in the Central Basin, 
which are rich, but the lands rolling. On the High- 
lands the timber consists of black jack, chestnut, red 
oak, and post oak. In the part of the county lying in 
the Central Basin poplar, walnut, white oak, sugar 



70 Middle Tennessee. 

tree, ash, beech, red elm, hackberry, buckeye, and 
cherry are common forest trees. Sycamore grows on 
all the streams. The census of 1890 reports the fol- 
lowing- productions for the county: Indian corn, 874,- 
683 bushels, grown on 29,721 acres; wheat, 115,241 
bushels, grown on 12,332 acres; oats, 52,655 bushels, 
grown on 3,504 acres; rye, 5,124 bushels, grown on 816 
acres. No portion of the State grows blue grass more 
kindly and generously than some of the knobby lands 
of Cannon County. All over the slopes and tops of the 
swelling hills a lovely carpet of blue grass is seen, 
and even upon the glady places it grows with vigor 
between the interstices of the rocks, and furnishes 
good grazing. There are many fine meadows along 
the streams, which bring heavy crops of hay year 
after year, without any apparent diminution in the 
quantity or quality of the hay. Clover grows with a 
singular luxuriance upon the lands in the Central 
Basin porion of the county. The live stock in 1890 
was: Horses, 3,491; mules, 2,046; asses, 55; working 
oxen, 365; milch cows, 2,557; other cattle, 4,017; sheep, 
6,568; value of live stock, $640,810. Nothing in the 
way of minerals, except building stone, is of any value 
in this county. Lands are worth in the best part of 
the county from $20 to $50 per acre; on the Highlands, 
from $2 to $10 per acre. The Central Basin part of the 
county resembles Bedford in all except in the lack 
of cedar forests. The towns and postoffices are Wood- 
bury, Auburn, Mechanicsville, Porterfield, Short Moun- 
tain, Prater, Leoni, Cateston, Burt, Bradyville, Burgen, 
Talome, Holly Springs, Broxton, Gason, Gassaway, In- 
galls, and Sapolio. Public schools are established 
throughout the county. 

CHEATHAM COUNTY. 

Organized, 1856. County seat, Ashland. Popula- 
tion, 8,845; white, 7,297; colored, 1,548; percentage of 
whites, 82.50. Area, 370 square miles, or 236,800 acres; 
inhabitants to the square mile, 23.90; acres of im- 
proved land, 52,250; unimproved, 90,344. Taxable prop- 
erty in 1897, $1,070,968; number of acres assessed, 
221,334, valued at $948,049; value per acre, $4.28. Aver- 
age elevation, 535 feet. This county lies below Nash- 
ville on both sides of the Cumberland River, and be- 
longs to the Highland Rim; the soils on the uplands 
are siliceous and calcareous. For the most part the 



72 Middle Tennessee. 

face of the county is hilly. Adjoining Robertson and 
Montgomery counties, the hill land is quite produc- 
tive, yielding- well corn, wheat, oats, and tobacco; 
while ' the valleys contiguous to the Sycamore, Half 
Pone, and Barton's creeks are rich, and produce tine 
crops. The north side of the river is mostly broken, 
and the hill land mainly valuable for the timber, 
though much of it is suited for tobacco. Few counties 
in Middle Tennessee are more densely timbered than 
Cheatham. The timber trees are: The various kinds 
of oak, hickory, poplar, walnut, cherry, and chestnut. 
The white oak, poplar, and hickory trees are very 
large and abundant. Shingles, boards, spokes, staves, 
timber for axe handles and axle trees, hoop poles and 
lumber of all sizes, are shipped in large quantities by 
river and by rail. The Marrowbone Creek bottoms 
are not so productive as those on the streams already 
mentioned. On the south of Cumberland, the land on 
Harpeth River is exceedingly fertile, and on Sanrs 
and Brush creeks is good. A large powder mill is in 
operation on Sycamore Creek. This stream runs 
deeply below the general level of the country; the 
average depth of the creek basin being 140 feet. It 
falls rapidly, and affords many valuable mill sites. 
Harpeth River and its tributaries on the south side 
of the Cumberland have valuable water power. On 
Harpeth is a very valuable one, known as the "Narrows 
of Harpeth." The census of 1890 shows the following- 
crops: Indian corn, 428,177 bushels, grown on 18,188 
acres; wheat, 26,100 bushels, grown on 2,627 acres; 
oats, 74,900 bushels, grown on 3,983 acres; tobacco, 
1,S94,667 pounds, grown on 2,636 acres. On many of 
the valley lands, especially on Harpeth River and its 
tributaries, herd's grass, timothy, and clover grow 
with an exuberant productiveness. Peanuts find a 
congenial soil on the gravelly bottoms of the streams. 
Among the fruits, apples, pears, quinces, peaches, 
cherries, plums, and grapes are grown successfully. 
The soils of this county, especially those near the rail- 
road, are admirably fitted for truck farming. Almost 
every exposure and every character of soil required 
for the growth of the different kinds of vegetables 
may be found; stiff, clayey soils for strawberries; 
light, sandy soils for tomatoes; strong, rich soils for 
beans and potatoes. All these occur, and frequently 
on the same farm. Live stock: Horses, 1,281; mules, 
1,454; asses, 15; working oxen, 231; milch cows, 1,929; 



Description of Counties — Coffee. 



73 



other cattle, 3,134; sheep, 2,168; value of live stock, 
$344,220. Iron ore occurs in the northern part of the 
county near the Montgomery County line. Building- 
stone of good quality is found among- the rocks of the 
Niagara formation, over which the railroad passes in 
Harpeth River valley. Hill land, unimproved, sells 
from $3 to $5 per acre. Improved land can be bought 
at from $10 to $15 per acre. Towns and postoffices are 
Craggie Hope, Kingston Springs, Pegram, and many 




WATERFALLS AT MANCHESTER. 

others. Facilities for transportation are furnished by 
the Northwestern Division of the Nashville, Chat- 
tanooga & St. Louis Railway. The public schools are 
fairly good, but would be greatly improved by a 
denser population. The school tax is 40 cents on the 
$100 worth of property. 



COFFEE COUNTY. 

Organized, 1836. County seat, Manchester. Popula- 
tion, 13,827; white, 12,127; colored, 1,700; percentage 
of whites, 87.71. Area, 300 square miles, or 192,000 
acres; inhabitants to the square mile, 46.09; acres of 



74 Middle Tennessee. 

improved land, 80,319; unimproved, 103,701. Taxable 
property in 1897, $1,650,051; number of acres assessed, 
255,049, valued at $1,006,673; value per acre, $3.95. 
Average elevation, 950 feet. This county forms part 
of the Highland Rim, a small portion of it around 
Beech Grove being" in the Central Basin; the lands 
around Beech Grove are not surpassed in fertility by 
any land in the State; the country is beautifully di- 
versified with hill and valley, abounding in springs of 
pure water; the soil is admirably adapted to the pro- 
duction of corn, wheat, rye, barley, oats, hemp, clover, 
timothy, herd's grass, and orchard grass; on the 
Highlands some of the very finest grades of yellow to- 
bacco were grown during the years 1896 and 1897, 
near Tullahoma. The census of 1890 reports the fol- 
lowing: Corn, 649,749 bushels, grown on 27,089 acres; 
wheat, 77,721 bushels, grown on 8,167 acres; rye, 6,493 
bushels, grown on 1,046 acres; oats, 57,530 bushels, 
grown on 4,952 acres. There are 600 northern families 
who have settled in the county during the past six 
years, and they are making the white soils, hitherto 
deemed worthless for cereals, produce from 15 to 23 
bushels of wheat per acre. The timber in the Basin 
is beech, oak, sugar tree, elm, ash, hackberry, black 
walnut, white walnut, cherry, mulberry, yellow poplar, 
pawpaw, black locust, honey locust, buckeye, linn, 
white and black haw; on the upland or "barrens" 
black jack and hickory are the most common growth. 
Land in the "barrens" is cheap, improved and unim- 
proved from $10 to $2 per acre; in the Central Basin 
improved farms are worth from $40 to $35 per acre. 
The water power is as good as can be found in the 
State; the principal streams are Bark Camp Fork and 
Garrison Fork of Duck River. With the exception of 
some very good building- stone, there are no minerals 
of value in the county. Some small deposits of iron 
ore have been found, but they are too small to justify 
mining at present. Aluminous shales occur, and, 
where exposed, as at Copperas Cave, copperas and 
alum are formed by their disintegration. Sulphur 
springs are common. Live stock: Horses, 3,165; mules, 
1,589; asses, 62; working oxen, 258; milch cows, 3,002; 
other cattle, 5,137; sheep, 6,105; value of live stock, 
$527,880. The towns, villages, and stations are: Tul- 
lahoma, on the main line; on the Sparta Branch are 
Hickerson, Belmont, Manchester, Wayside, Summit- 
ville, and others. Beech Grove is an important agri- 



Description of Counties — Coffee. 75 

cultural center. The McMinnville Branch of the Nash- 
ville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway, and the main 
line of the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway, 
furnish ample means of transportation. Schools in 
Tullahoma are excellent; in the country districts 
public schools are taught from three to five months. 
The school tax is 30 cents on $100 worth of property. 

Note. — The growing of tobacco on the whitish lands 
around Tullahoma is a new industry, begun by Jas. G. 
Aydelott, J. D. Raht, and others. The type of tobacco 




BARN FOR CURING YELLOW TOBACCO, TULLAHOMA. TENN. 



produced has all the excellent qualities of the best 
North Carolina yellow tobacco. It is soft and silhy, 
fine of fibre, and has the delightful rose flavor. It 
runs in color from a lemon yellow to orange, mahog- 
any, and brown, and furnishes all the grades of the 
best North Carolina growth. This type of tobacco has 
no rival for pipe smoking, plug wrappers, and cigar- 
ettes. It has built up a durable prosperity in North 
Carolina, and will do the same thing for Coffee, Cheat- 
ham, Lewis, Hickman, Dickson, Humphreys, Wayne, 
and other counties having similar soils. 



76 Middle Tennessee. 

CUMBERLAND COUNTY. 

Organized, 1850. County seat, Crossville. Popula- 
tion, 5,376; whites, 5,323; colored, 53; percentage of 
whites, 99.01. Area, 090 square miles, or 441,600 acres; 
inhabitants to square mile, 8.08; acres of improved 
land, 21,289; unimproved, 119,141. Taxable property in 
1897, $957,868; number of acres assessed, 529,759 (by 
duplication, an excess of 178,485 acres over area); 
vauled at $917,711; value per acre, $1.73. Average 
elevation, 1,800 feet. This is one of the counties of the 
Cumberland Table-land; drained by Big Emory and 
its tributaries, Daddy's Creek and Obey's River; Caney 
Fork flows through the western part of the county. 
With the exception of a small part of the head of 
Sequatchie Valley, this county lies on the Cumberland 
Table-land. The surface is generally level or undulat- 
ing, and thinly wooded. In many places there are 
glades of greater or less extent, which are, in fact, 
small prairies, probably caused by annual fires, desti- 
tute of timber, and covered with coarse, rank grass. 
Besides the glades there are extensive flats covered 
mainly with post oak and black jack. The ridges and 
hills which, with few exceptions, are but little elevated 
above the general level, are often gravelly, and pro- 
duce larger timber and a denser growth, among- which 
are several varieties of oaks, chestnut, hickory, white 
poplar, pine, and sometimes elm and maple. The 
larger streams generally flow in narrow valleys below 
the general level, and the abutting hills are often rug- 
ged and steep. Crab Orchard Mountain has an eleva- 
tion of 1,000 feet above the mountain plateau on which 
it rests, being' in fact a mountain on top of a mountain. 
Beginning near Big Emory River, it extends south- 
westwardly, rising gradually until an elevation of 1,000 
feet above the Table-land is attained above Crab 
Orchard Gap, through which the road from Crossville 
to Kingston passes. At this gap it is cut completely 
in twain, leaving room for a large farm between the 
abutting- ends. Continuing its course in the same 
direction, but having a less elevation, it is abruptly 
cut into at another point from the last by Grassy 
Cove. This cove is one of the most remarkable topo- 
graphical features of the Table-land. Here we have 
between the two opposing ends of the mountain a 
beautiful and fertile valley eight miles in its greatest 
diameter from northeast to southwest, and four miles 



Description of Counties— Cumberland. 77 

wide. It is depressed 300 feet below the average eleva- 
tion of the Table-land, by which it is completely sur- 
rounded. Crab Orchard Mountain, beginning again at 
the southwest end of the cove, continues in a direct 
line to its abrupt termination at the head of Se- 
quatchie Valley. About three miles of the head of 
Sequatchie Valley are included in Cumberland County, 
which is the only part of the county not on the Table- 
land. Though comprising but a small part of the 
area, it contains a very large part of the population 
and wealth. The soil is light, porous, sandy, and un- 
productive for cereals. The census of 1890 shows that 
99,744 bushels of Indian corn were grown on 7,700 
acres; 1,422 bushels of wheat, grown on 224 acres; 
17,421 bushels of oats, grown on 2,170 acres. Live 
stock: Horses, 888; mules, 353; asses, 11; working oxen, 
421; milch cows, 1,839; other cattle, 4,608; sheep, 8,372; 
value of live stock, $206,800. This county is famous 
for its fine apples, pears, and fruits generally. It 
>may be said with truth that there are not 20,000 acres 
of land in. the county that are not underlaid with 
excellent coal. Every stream in the county that fur- 
rows its way to the lower strata exposes seams of 
coal. There are large outcrops of coal on Meadow 
Creek, Laurel Creek, Potts Creek, Daddy's Creek, Obed 
Eiver, Clear Creek, and on many others. The char- 
acter of the coal is very pure, and a good coking coal, 
but rather soft for stocking. It is said, however, that 
the coal taken from Brown's Bank bears stocking well, 
and is from 10 to 12 feet thick. Iron ore exists near 
the head of Sequatchie Valley. The lands are very 
cheap, down as low as two dollars per acre. The 
towns, villages, and stations are Pomona, Winesap, 
Burke, Jewett, Vendie, Big Lick, Grassy Cove, Mt. 
Gilead, Erasmus, Pleasant Hill, Crab Orchard, North- 
ville, Howard Springs, Crossville, Lantana, and many 
others. The sparseness of the population has made it 
impossible to establish many good schools in the 
county. The public spirit of the citizens, however, is 
very high, and the schools will increase in efficiency 
as rapidly as the population increases. The school tax 
is 60 cents on $100 worth of property. There is a 
large school, with excellent buildings, established at 
Pleasant Hill. Pomona is the center of the fruit in- 
dustry, and, is settled up by people of education, re- 
finement, and culture. (Se» "fruits" in another place.) 
4 



78 Middle Tennessee. 

DAVIDSON COUNTY. 

Organized, 1783. County seat, Nashville. Popula- 
tion in 1890, 108,174; white, 66,612; colored, 41,549; all 
others, 13; percentage of whites, 61.59. Area, 508 
square miles, or 325,120 acres; inhabitants to the 
square mile, 212.53; acres of improved land, 170,923; 
unimproved, 110,872. Taxable property for 1897, $46,- 
949,480; number of acres assessed, 308,631; valued at 
$8,487,100; value per acre, $27.49. Average elevation, 
485 feet. The topography of the county is greatly 
diversified. In the northern part the .surface is a 
series of high, poor, gravelly, siliceous spurs, jutting 
out from the Highlands, with minor spurs shooting 
out from the main axis almost as numerous as the 
branches of a tree. A bold ridge runs north and south 
for a few miles, and culminates in Paradise Hill, from 
which the waters flow in every direction. All that 
portion of the county embraced between White's 
Creek and the Cheatham County line is rugged, and 
has thin soils, except the river and creek bottoms, and 
some of the uplands near the Cumberland River. East 
of White's Creek, and embraced between that stream 
and the Cumberland River, on the east and south, the 
surface is quite hilly, though it is not so broken as 
that west of that creek. The soils on White's Creek 
are well adapted to the growth of the cereals or to 
blue grass. East of it there are some good, warm 
valley lands, with occasional ridges or spurs too steep 
for cultivation. The soil is mulatto in color, with 
many surface rocks, and grows corn, wheat, potatoes, 
and clover well; but it does not have the capacity to 
resist a drouth. The soil in a portion of Neely's 
Bend is dark in color, and produces the grasses abun- 
dantly. South and southwest of the city of Nashville 
is a series of rounded hills, sweeping in almost a 
semicircle about the city. These hills are very beauti- 
ful and symmetrical in form, and rise very gracefully 
to the height of 150 or 200 feet. Between these hills 
and the city the soil is mulatto in color, and rests 
upon a bed of limestone that comes very near the 
surface, and makes the soil, though rich, compara- 
tively worthless, except on level places, because of a 
lack of depth. Taking the Cumberland River opposite 
Bell's Bend as the starting point, with Nashville as 
the center, and describing a segment of a circle to Mill 
Creek, it will inclose a body of very fertile land, with 



Description of Counties — Davidson. 70 

the exception of the thin soils immediately around 
Nashville. This area grows a large quantity of all 
the crops cultivated in the Central Basin. This section 
embraces the best blue grass lands in the county. The 
native growth is poplar, walnut, maple, linden, horn- 
beam, ouckeye, and several varieties of oak. On the 
west, Harpeth ridge, running east and west, comes 
in. South of Harpeth River the land is, for the most 
part, high, rolling, and thin, though there are some 
excellent bottoms on the river. East of Mill Creek, 
and south of the Cumberland, are found the best soils 
in the county for cotton, wheat, and clover. The color 
of the soil is mulatto, except in the alluvial bottoms. 
The timber consists mainly of poplar and white oak, 
with some maple and walnut. The soils may be put 
into three classes: (1) Siliceous, which is found on the 
spurs, and more especially in those portions of the 
county where the sub-carboniferous formations pre- 
vail; (2) the limestone soil proper, which constitutes 
7 three-fifths of all the soils in the county; (3) the allu- 
vial, which occurs on all the streams. The siliceous 
soil is of a brownish yellow color, with abundant 
gravel in its composition, and it is often underlaid by 
sandstone. The native growth upon this is poplar, 
walnut, chestnut, beech, and oak. The heaviest and 
best timber in the county is found on this soil. It is 
especially adapted to the growth of fruits, water- 
melons, peanuts, and cotton. The soils of the second 
class are considerably mixed with arenaceous material, 
and are light, porous, and easily worked. They vary 
in color, constitution, and capacity. Upon these soils 
grow nearly all the blue grass and other grasses of 
the county, except herd's grass, which does better on 
the alluvial and siliceous soils. The soils of the third 
class are variable in their composition. Sometimes 
they are very clayey, and then they are stiff, and work 
badly, and aie subject to great cracks during a 
drought. Other alluvial soils are sandy, and will not 
produce well during a dry season. When the sand and 
clay in these soils are mingled in proper proportions, 
they form the most productive and most durable soils 
to be found in the State. Lumber trees, except on the 
ridges, a, e gi owing scarce. The most valuable varie- 
ties, such as cedar, walnut, oak, sugar tree, poplar, and 
hickory have been picked over so often that what re- 
mains standing is very inferior. There are, on the 
Cumberland River and Harpeth River hills, some few 



Description of Counties — Davidson. 81 

bodies of good timber, such as poplar, ash, hickory, 
chestnut, hornbeam, elm, and honey locust still stand- 
ing, but they stand like the surviving" members of a 
once powerful race, impossible to resist the demands 
or to stay the hand of a vigorous civilization. The 
farms of Davidson County rank very high, not less for 
the character of the improvements than for the fertil- 
ity of the soil. The farm houses in many portions of 
the county are models of convenience, elegance, and 
comfort. The farms are oftentimes inclosed with rock 
walls, built at a cost equal, in many cases, to more 
than the original cost of the farm. The breeding es- 
tablishments around Nashville are famed throughout 
the United States; many of them are well known in 
Europe for the high character of the stock, and the 
perfect fairness and integrity of their management. 
Racing and trotting horses, all the better breeds of 
asses, cattle, sheep, and hogs are found in Davidson 
County. As a stock producing county, it takes the 
tirst rank among 'all the counties in the State. Indeed, 
it may be said that the value of the live stock in one 
of the best of these breeding establishments would 
probably equal or surpass in value the stock in any 
one of a majority of the counties in the State. Statis- 
tics of live stock for the census year, 1890, reports: 
Horses, 7,797; mules, 4,056; asses, 242; working oxen, 
57; milch cows, 8,545; other cattle, 9,547; sheep, 10,536; 
value of live stock, $1,652,120. Dairy farming is claim- 
ing the attention of a large number of people in the 
county, and it is proving to be one of the most profit- 
able branches of rural economy. The many cool 
springs of sparkling water, the length of time that 
green forage may be obtained, the perfect adaptabil- 
ity of the soil to the growing of grasses, and the ex- 
cellent home market for the products of the dairy, 
induce many persons to engage in this business. 
Truck farming also plays a prominent part in the 
agriculture of the county. Strawberries are grown 
for the local market and for shipment. Irish pota- 
toes have become a leading field crop. The census of 
1890 reports the following crops: Wheat, 209,328 
bushels, grown on 14,198 acres; corn, 1,220,672 bushels, 
grown on 41,731 acres; oats, 176,132 bushels, grown on 
8,774 acres; cotton, 69 bales, produced on 363 acres. 
The tendency towards the cultivation of the smaller 
fruits and vegetables is illustrated by the fact that 
cotton has almost ceased to be grown in the county. 



82 Middle Tennessee. 

One-third of all the milk sold in the State, and one- 
fourth of all the butter made in 1879, were produced 
in Davidson County. The price of lands is very vari- 
able. Near the city of Nashville the prices have been 
much advanced during the past ten years by a specu- 
lative demand. Lands within five miles of Nashville 
rarely sell for less than $50 per acre, and often for 
$100. Beyond that distance good small farms are held 
at $30 to $60 . per acre, and when well improved a 
much higher price is asked, especially if the land lies 
on any of the railroads or turnpikes leading into the 
city. In the extreme northern part of the county, 
fairly productive lands may be bought for $15 per 
acre, and even less, when the improvements are not 
good. It is impossible, however, to give any informa- 
tion about the price of land in Davidson County that 
will be sufficiently accurate to satisfy the intending 
immigrant. He should make a full investigation for 
himself. So many extraneous matters other than its 
agricultural adaptabilities influence the price of land 
near large growing cities, that the question of fertil- 
ity becomes a minor one. From its first permanent 
settlement in 1779, Nashville has been a noted place, not 
less by reason of the fertile country that surrounds 
it than by its central position as a great distributing 
point. In the decade between 1830 and 1840 it was the 
center of the political influence of the United States. 
The population of the city is estimated to be 100,000 
in 1898. No place, in proportion to population, has 
reached a higher position in an educational point of 
view. There are about seventy-five schools in the city, 
ranging from the kindergarten to the university, to 
which students from every part of the county flock to 
be educated in the arts, sciences, and professions. Not 
less than $500,000 annually are brought into the city 
by students who come from other localities. There 
are twenty public school houses in the city, many 
of them are architecturally beautiful, and they are 
supplied with every modern convenience and comfort. 
The amount disbursed for city schools in 1897 was 
$169,271. Among the most notable institutions of 
learning in Nashville are Vanderbilt University, Pea- 
body Normal School, the Nashville College for Young 
Ladies, Ward Seminary, St. Cecilia, Boscobel College, 
Montgomery Bell Academy, Wharton's Academic 
School, Wallace's High School. These are all for white 
students. Fisk University, Boger Williams University, 



Description of Counties — Davidson. 83 

and Central Tennessee College are high grade institu- 
tions for the negroes. There are several medical 
schools and business colleges in the city all receiving 
good patronage. Tennessee School for the Blind, and 
Tennessee School for Deaf and Dumb, are within the 
corporate limits, and near the city there is an Indus- 
trial School supported by the State. The school tax 
is 25 cents on $100 worth of property, besides the city 
tax. There are some excellent building stones to be 
found in the county, the best of which is known as 
the Bosley stone, quarried quite extensively in the 
tenth and eleventh districts. It is a compact lime- 
stone, light gray in color, of fine texture, and is easily 
worked. It has been used in making the fronts of 
some of the best buildings in Nashville. This stone is 
also quarried in Bell's Bend, below Nashville. Some 
fossiliferous red hematite iron ore is found in the hills 
north of Nashville. Analyses show it to contain only 
about 22 per cent, of metallic iron, but as it forms a 
combination with the carbonate of lime, it may become 
valuable as a flux for richer ore, and supply at the 
same time iron ore enough to justify the outlay for 
mining. Some phosphates are also found in the 
county, but they are not yet mined. On the main line 
of the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway are 
Nashville, Glen Cliff, Curry, Asylum, Antioch, Mt. 
View, Kimbro, Lebanon Junction. On the North- 
western division: Hardings, Vaughan's Gap, Hicks, 
Bellview, Newsom's Station. On the Lebanon branch: 
Eastin, Mill Creek, Mud Tavern, Done! son, Hermitage. 
On the West Nashville branch: West Nashville. Other 
places not on this line are Baxter's, Overton's, Paragon 
Mills, Una, Couchville, White's Creek, Maplewood, Mad- 
ison, Edgefield Junction, Goodlettsville, Baker, Old 
Hickory, Eaton's Creek, and some smaller ones. The 
Decatur Division, the Henderson Division, and the 
main stem, all of the- Louisville & Nashville Kailroad; 
the Lebanon Branch, the main stem, Northwestern 
Division, and the West Nashville Branch, all of the 
X;ixhville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway, furnish 
ample facilities for transportation. Cumberland River, 
upon which Nashville is situated, furnishes water 
transportation nine months in the year to all points 
lying on water lines in the Mississippi Valley. The 
damming and locking of the river above Nashville by 
the general government will make the stream naviga- 
ble for the greater part of the year. 



Description of Counties — Davidson. 85 

The Centennial Exposition, held in Nashville in 1897, 
from May to October, inclusive, was one of the grand- 
est civic events in the history of the State. It caused 
fully 750,000 people to visit the city. The exhibit of 
the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway was 
regarded as one of the best ever made of the resources 
of a country. This exhibit is still kept as an object 
lesson in Nashville for all homeseekers visiting- the 
South. 

On the beautiful range of hills that girdles the city 
on the south, the battle of Nashville was fought on 
the sixteenth day of December, 1864, Gen. Thomas 
comnianding the Federals and Gen. Hood the Con- 
federates. Gen. Hood's army was practically destroyed 
by this battle. It was the last of the famous cam- 
paign, during which Gen. Hood lost fully 30,000 men. 
There is a Federal cemetery within six miles of Nash- 
ville, where 16,526 Federal soldiers lie buried. It is a 
lovely spot in the midst of a landscape possessing rare 
rural beauties. "The Hermitage, twelve miles from 
Nashville, on the Lebanon Branch, the former home of 
Andrew Jackson, is a place that every patriotic citizen 
loves to visit, whether he lives in the North or in the 
South, for while he was a southern man he gave utter- 
ance to the sentiment "The Union must and shall be 
preserved." The tomb of Jas. K. Polk, on the Capitol 
grounds in the city, is also an object of interest to all 
visitors. During his presidency nearly one million 
square miles were added to the national domain. 

THE WHOLESALE TRADE OF NASHVILLE. 

A request was made of Mr. Charles W. Harmon, 
Superintendent of Bradstreet's Agency, in Nashville, 
for statistical data concerning the wholesale trade of 
Nashville, which brought forth the statement that the 
estimated volume of Nashville's traffic has decreased 
in the last twenty-five years along the following lines, 
namely: Cotton, dry goods, leaf tobacco, liquors, 
groceries, drugs, clothing, cigars and tobacco, books 
and stationery. There has been a material increase 
in the lines of stoves, coal, tinware, paper, saddlery, 
lumber, millinery, shoes, hardware, and live stock. 

Mr. Harmon shows that the annual wholesale trade 
of Nashville amounted, at the close of 1897, to $40,185,- 
000, distributed as follows: 



Middle Tennessee. 

Dry goods and notions .$ 2,500,000 

Groceries 4,750,000 

Shoes 2,500,000 

Liquors 950,000 

Hats , 300,000 

Hardware 1,650,000 

Drugs 1,000,000 

Clothing 925,000 

Flour and grain 6,000,000 

Cigars and tobacco 1,000,000 

Live stock 2,250,000 

Stoves and tinware 960,000 

Furniture 500,000 

Paper and manufacture of books.... 950,000 

Saddlery 475,000 

Other manufactures 5,000,000 

Produce 500,000 

Millinery 275,000 

Coal 500,000 

Hides 200,000 

Lumber 2,500,000 

Beer 500.000 

Unclassed 4,000,000 



$40,185,000 



There are 120 churches in Nashville, eighty for the 
white population and forty for the colored population. 
There are four cotton mills, with an invested capital 
of $1,500,000; number of spindles, 51,000; number of 
looms, 1,500; number of operatives, 1,500; annual pro- 
duction, 20,000,000 yards of cloth, besides cotton yarn. 
There are five flouring mills, with a daily capacity of 
5,550 barrels of flour and 1,500 barrels of meal. 
Phillips & Buttorff Company has invested $750,000 in 
the manufacture of stoves, mantels, and tinware, and 
employs 650 hands, and turns out over $50,000 of hard- 
ware and tinware annually. It is the largest concern 
in the South for the manufacture of hollow ware. 
There are three National Banks, and four other insti- 
tutions doing a banking business, whose combined 
capital aggregates $3,175,000, with a surplus of $425,000. 
Other financial agencies aggregate $250,000. 

DEKALB COUNTY. 

Organized, 1837. County seat, Smith ville. Popula- 
tion, 15,650; white, 14,462; colored, 1,188; percentage of 



Description of Counties — DeKalb. 87 

whites, 92.41. Area, 300 square miles, or 192,000 acres; 
inhabitants to the square mile, 52.16; acres of improved 
land, 37,170; unimproved, 99,116. Taxable property for 
1897, $1,579,315; number of acres assessed, 241,960; 
valued at $1,274,395; value per acre, $5.26. Average 
elevation, 650 feet in the Central Basin portion and 
900 feet on the Highlands. About two-thirds of this 
county lies on the Highland Rim, the remainder being 
in the Central Basin part of the county, and in the 
lands occupy the eastern and northern part of the 
county. The surface of the county is gently undulat- 
ing, the beds of the streams are depressed but little 
below the general level. The western part of the 
county embraces several vallej^s of considerable size, 
and of great agricultural value, separated from each 
other by irregular ranges of hills, and there are iso- 
lated peaks and short ridges, some of which mount up 
to a level with the Highlands. The soil of the High- 
lands is siliceous, and when resting upon a red clay 
subsoil is very fertile. The timber of the Highlands 
is small, arid not very dense, and includes post oak, 
small white oak, black oak, and hickory. The timber 
in the Central Basin part of the county, and in the 
valleys, where not culled, is thick and heavy. Poplar, 
beech, sugar maple, ash, linden, walnut, and many 
other varieties furnish a large amount of excellent 
timber for saw mills. The best timber, which was once 
near the streams, has been cut off, but there is still a" 
bountiful supply on the slopes of the hills, and in the 
back valleys and coves. The county is well watered by 
Caney Fork and its tributaries. Some of the tributar- 
ies of Caney Fork are noted for the beautiful water 
falls. One of these is on Fall Creek, near Smithville, 
Tenn., in which the water is precipitated over a bluff 
to the distance of 93 feet. The falls are caused by 
the descent from the Highlands to the arms of 
the Central Basin. The census of 1890 shows the fol- 
lowing crops: Indian corn, 901,345 bushels, grown on 
32,094 acres; wheat, 104,947 bushels, grown on 12,670 
acres; oats, 34,541 bushels, grown on 3,448 acres; rye, 
4,739 bushels, grown on 736 acres; tobacco, 28,500 
pounds, grown on 48 acres. Live stock: Horses, 3,875; 
mules, 2,039: asses, 62; working oxen, 703; milch cows, 
2,840; other cattle, 4,546; sheep, 7,520; value of live 
stock, $670,990. On the eastern side of Caney Fork, 
near the dividing line between this county and White, 
there are some beds of iron ore. The ore, a brown 



88 Middle Tennessee. 

hematite, was worked many years ago to some extent 
in a forge on the opposite side of Caney Fork. No 
extensive prospecting has been done to ascertain the 
quantity. Should an extensive deposit be found in this 
county, it would have special value on account of the 
proximity of coking coal. There are several good sul- 
phur springs in the county. In caves and "rock 
nouses" that occur frequently there are efflorescences 
and incrustations of alum and copperas. The valley 
lands are held at high figures, from $25 to $35 per acre. 
The knobby lands sell at prices varying from $10 to 
$15. The flat lands of the Highlands may be bought at 
from $2 to $5 per acre. The towns and postoffices are: 
Smithville, Alexandria, Liberty, Laurel Hill, Holmes 
Creek, Crawfordtown, DeKalb, Magness Mills, Hicks, 
Mount Sterling, and many others. There are no rail- 
roads at present in DeKalb County. The public 
schools of DeKalb County are improving annually. 
Better teachers are now employed than formerly, and 
more pride is taken by the citizens in building up a 
better system of schools. The county is liberal in its 
appropriation to schools. The school tax is 30 cents 
on $100 worth of property. 



DICKSON COUNTY. 

Organized, 1803. County seat, Charlotte. Popula- 
tion, 13,645; white, 11,493; colored, 2,152; percentage 
of whites, 84.23. Area, 630 square miles, or 403,200 
acres; inhabitants to square mile, 21.65; acres of im- 
proved land, 75,493; unimproved, 164,244. Taxable 
property in 1897, $1,388,000; number of acres assessed, 
292,981; valued at $1,015,915; value per acre, $3.46. 
Average elevation, 825 feet. This county is situated on 
the Highland Rim; its surface is mainly high table- 
land, cut or gashed by numerous creek valleys; the 
soil is siliceous and calcareous, moderately fertile, and 
grows tobacco, corn, wheat, oats, rye, potatoes, pea- 
nuts, and fruits in remunerative quantities. Many 
fine farms lie in the creek and river basins. The prin- 
cipal streams in the county are Harpeth River and its 
tributaries, Jones' Creek and Turnbull Creek; Yellow 
Creek and Barton's Creek, tributaries of the Cumber- 
land; Pine Creek, Cedar Creek, and Blue Creek, tribu- 
taries of Duck River. Improved tillable lands are 
worth from $6 to $10 per acre; creek and river bottom 
farms from $20 to $30; unimproved lands from $2 to 



Description of Cocnties — Dickson. 89 

$5. The principal forest growth on the plateau up- 
lands is post oak, red oak, and hickory. In the valleys 
excellent poplar trees are met with, and some walnut. 
Black gum, white oak, beech, and sycamore are also 
common trees in the river basins. On the slopes many 
chestnut trees and chestnut oaks are found, besides a 
good growth of red and black oak. The census of 1890 
shows that 598,267 bushels of Indian corn were grown 
on 24,483 acres; 28,890 bushels of wheat were grown 
on 3,871 acres; 104,846 bushels of oats were grown 
on 8,416 acres; tobacco, 388,613 pounds, were grown on 
572 acres. Peanuts are extensively cultivated when the 
price of the product justifies it. Sorghum is made and 
sold in considerable quantity. This county can grow 
successfully all the crops grown in the State. Live 
stock: Horses, 2,120; mules, 2,253; asses, 33; working- 
oxen, 575; milch cows, 3,435; other cattle, 6,187; sheep, 
5,903; value of live stock, $523,930. Dickson County 
has been famous for nearly a century for the char- 
acter and extent of its iron ores. The deposits are 
numerous, extensive, and rich. Those around Cumber- 
land Furnace are the largest, and from their extent 
and depth appear to be well-nigh inexhaustible. Other 
banks are near the line of railroad at Old Worley 
furnace, not far from Dickson Station, and south of 
it. Numerous other banks occur north of the rail- 
road on Yellow Creek, and south of Charlotte. No 
furnace is now in operation in the county, but the 
company controlling the Cumberland Furnace prop- 
erty has, within recent years, erected a new 45 ton 
furnace. Some petroleum has been found in the 
county. The towns and villages on the main line are: 
Tennessee City, Dickson, Colesburg, Burns, White 
Bluff. On the Centreville Branch, in this county, are 
the following stations: Pomona, Tidwell, Iron Hill, 
and Abiff. There are many other towns and villages. 
Charlotte has a population of 427, and Dickson 2,500. 
The Northwestern Division and the Centreville Branch 
of the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway, and 
the Mineral Branch of the Louisville & Nashville Rail- 
road, furnish the means for transportation. Cumber- 
land River supplies water transportation to a part of 
the county. The public school interest is growing 
rapidly among all classes of citizens. There were 88 
public schools in the county in 1895. A large normal 
school, in the town of Dickson, is well equipped for 



90 Middle Tennessee. 

educational work, and has an attendance of several 
hundred pupils. The school tax is 30 cents on the $100 
worth of property. Many northern immigrants have 
settled in this county, and have done well. 



FRANKLIN COUNTY. 

Organized, 1807. County seat, Winchester. Popula- 
tion, 18,929; white, 15,313; colored, 3,610; all others, 6; 
percentage of whites, 80.87. Area, 590 square miles, or 
377,600 acres; number of inhabitants to square mile, 
32.1; improved land, 113,679 acres; unimproved, 132,898. 
Taxable property in 1896, $2,185,061; number of acres 
assessed, 339,321; valued at $1,522,481; value per acre, 
$4.48. Average elevation in valley, 869 feet; on the 
mountain, 1,750 feet. That portion of the county 
which lies on the Cumberland Table-land is generally 
slightly rolling, though there are deep gorges cut by 
the streams that rush down from the mountain, The 
slopes of the mountain are usually steep, and rough- 
ened with great masses of sandstone that in time have 
been broken off from the heavy sandstone beds above 
and rolled clown on the benches and sides of the moun- 
tain. About half way from the top of the mountain 
to the valley below, heavy beds of mountain limestone 
appear. Many narrow strips or benches on the face 
of the mountain occur that are very fertile. Beauti- 
ful level coves notch the mountain sides. These coves 
constitute some of the best lands in the county. 
Reaching the foot of the mountain, the surface is 
comparatively level, except near the stream beds, 
where it is more broken and irregular. The soils of 
the mountain top, resulting mainly from the disin- 
tegration of sandstone, are deficient in calcareous 
matter. (See "soils.") They are lean, porous, and 
hungry. They are not well adapted to field crops 
generally. There are, however, a few basins in which, 
owing to the accumulation of vegetable humus, the 
soil is fairly productive in wheat, corn, rye, sorghum, 
and other crops suited to the latitude. But such 
spots are rare. For the growing of Irish potatoes, 
cabbage, and garden vegetables, grapes, and apples, 
these sandstone soils have been found to be very 
generous, and especially when they rest upon a thick 
bed of clay so as to throw the underlying sandstone 
five or six feet below the surface. The soils on the 
benches of the mountain, made up of calcareous matter 



Description of Counties — Franklin. 91 

derived from the underlying limestone and the sandy 
detritus, that has washed down from above, have a 
wonderful power of production. They are very loose, 
and easily tilled, and, what is peculiar, the surface con- 
taining- such soils rarely wash. Running- along the 
northwestern base of the mountain is a wide belt of 
characteristic red land, furnishing a fine agricultural 
region. This belt belongs to what is known as the 
lithostrotion bed of the sub-carboniferous, which is 
the upper layer of I ous group. Wherever this 

bed is found, whether in East Tennessee, in Warren, 




1 



BIG FLOURING MILL, ESTILL, TENN. 

White, Putnam, Robertson, Montgomery, Stewart, or 
elsewhere on the Highland Rim, the soils are excellent 
in quality, and very durable. The fine river lands of 
Elk River, which flows through the county from 
northeast to southwest, paralleling, to some extent, 
the trend of the table-lands are by many thought to 
be the most desirable in the county. Northwest of the 
red belt are what is known as the "barrens," where the 
soil is gray in color, and comparatively sterile. The 
soil will not grow Indian corn well, but recent ex- 
periments show that it will grow wheat in paying 



92 Middle Tennessee. 

quantities, and also a fine quality of tobacco, and for 
oats and orchards it does admirably. Probably the 
densest bodies of timber in Middle Tennessee are 
found on the slopes of the mountains in Franklin 
County. Very large poplar, hickory, white oak, black 
gum, and red oak are grown on these slopes. For- 
merly there was a large amount of walnut, but this has 
been exhausted. On the top of the mountain some 
good timber trees are found, mostly black gum, hick- 
ory, white and red oak, chestnut and chestnut oak 
hemlock. Here and there a body of pine occurs, and 
sometimes poplars, scattered through the forests, es- 
pecially on the northern side of the slopes. In the red 
land belt, at the foot of the mountain, the timber is 
not large, but serviceable for fencing and fire wood. 
It is very small in the barrens, and the woods are open, 
making this portion of the county valuable for high- 
way pasturage. Altogether valuable lumber trees are 
growing scarce in the county. Franklin County is 
well watered; the Elk, which is the arterial stream of 
the county, has numerous tributaries, many of them 
furnishing superb water power. The largest flouring 
mill in the United States for grinding winter wheat 
is driven by the water power of Elk Kiver, at Estill 
Springs. This has a capacity of 2,500 barrels of flour 
per day. Lands vary widely in price. There are 
farms that cannot be bought for $50 per acre, while 
there are others that may be bought for $3 per acre, 
so great is the difference in the soil and locations. 
The census of 1890 shows that Indian corn, 810,173 
bushels, were grown on 37,759 acres; wheat, 162,256 
bushels, grown on 15,472 acres; oats, 73,057 bushels, 
grown on 6,208 acres; cotton, 113 bales, grown on 758 
acres. There is probably but one other county in the 
State where more fruit is grown for market. Apples, 
especially in the coves and on the benches of the 
mountains, are grown in great abundance, and mar- 
keted in the fall and winter. Live stock: Horses, 
3,359; mules, 2,044; asses, 78; working oxen, 338; milch 
cows, 3,790; other cattle, 6,466; sheep, 3,794; value of 
live stock, $578,940. Coal is found in workable quan- 
tity underlying that portion of the county embraced 
by the Cumberland Table-land; some variegated mar- 
ble is found, and excellent reddish and buff colored 
sandstone for building purposes; lithographic stone 
and hydraulic cement exist on the slopes of the moun- 
tain. Farms in the coves range from $20 to $40 per 



94 Middle Tennessee. 

acre; in the red land belt from $20 to $50; in the 
valleys of Elk River and Crow Creek from $25 to $40. 
Barren woodlands are worth from $2 to $3, and moun- 
tain lands about the same. Towns, villages and sta- 
tions on main line are: Estill Springs, Decherd, Cowan, 
T. C. Junction, Sherwood, and Anderson. On the 
Fayetteville Branch are Winchester, Ivasserman, Bel- 
videre, Maxwell, Beans Creek, Huntland. On the 
Tracy City Branch, in the county, are: Sewanee and 
Monteagle. The Tracy City Branch of the Nashville, 
Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway, and the Fayetteville 
and Huntsville Division of the same line, also the main 
stem of the Nashville, Cnattanooga & St. Louis Rail- 
way, furnish the means of transportation. The most 
nourishing colony of northern people in the South is 
established around Belvidere, in this county. They 
bought red lands that had been so much exhausted 
by the growing of cotton that four bushels of 
wheat and ten bushels of corn could with difficulty 
be produced on them. These were improved from year 
to year by judicious methods, and now it is not un- 
usual for thirty bushels of wheat and sixty bushels 
of corn to be grown on the same lands. Originally 
purchased for $6 to $8 and $10 per acre, they are now 
worth from $30 to $50 per acre, and there are but few 
of those occupied by the colonists for sale at any 
price. Many new citizens are settling in this county 
on the red soils, and are delighted with their homes. 
There are few, if any, counties outside of the metro- 
politan counties that have so many excellent schools 
as Franklin. Terrill College is a model, and has turned 
out more successful teachers for the time it has been 
in operation than any other normal school in the 
State. Forty cents on the $100 is voted for school 
purposes. The county is famous for its sulphur 
springs. Estill Springs, Eastbrook Springs, Cascade 
Springs, Hurricane Springs, and many others, supply 
various kinds of sulphur water, but the green sulphur 
water is thought to be a specific for gall-stone and 
stomach troubles. 

GRUNDY COUNTY. 

Organized, 18-14. County scat, Altamont. Popula- 
tion in 1S90, 6,345; white, 5,909; colored, 436; percent- 
age of whites, 93.13. Area, 400 square miles, or 256,000 
acres; inhabitants to the square mile, 15.86. Taxable 
property in 1897, $881,204; number of acres assessed, 



Description of Counties — Grundy. 95 

^05,262; valued at $548,403; value per acre, $1.79 (the 
number of acres assessed is 64,669 more than the es- 
timated area of the county). Average elevation on 
mountain, 1,850 feet. The top of the mountain is 
usually rolling-, and sometimes flat. Occasionally, ele- 
vations rise several hundred feet above the general 
surface. In the vicinity of streams, the surface be- 
comes much broken by deep "gulfs." On the slopes of 
the mountain, where it breaks off into the lowlands, 
there is great rugg-edness of the surface. Some of the 
wildest gorges in the State are to be met with along 
the streams, perfect pictures of untamed nature, and 
embellished by numerous and various evergreens. 
Large boulders of sandstone have become detached, 
and tumbled down on the sides of the mountain, in 
such abundance, as to make it the roughest part of the 
county. In the coves which scallop, in part, the west- 
ern side of the county, the surface is level. The head 
waters of Collins, Sequatchie, and Elk rivers are also 
7 in this county. Many of the streams on the top of the 
table-land have sufficient volume for milling purposes, 
such as the Fiery Gizzard and Fire Scald. These moun- 
tain streams are very rapid, having perpendicular falls 
sometimes of thirty or more feet, especially where 
they begin to descend into the valleys. The soils of 
the mountain top are generally of a sandstone origin, 
and are lean, thirsty, and poor, but they are well- 
adapted to the growth of fruits and vegetables, where 
the rock is not too near the surface. There are some 
elevated bottoms that will produce corn and wheat 
when well drained. The benches on the sides of the 
mountain, where the soil is an admixture of the 
weathering of the mountain limestone and of the 
sandstone, are highly productive of Indian corn, oats, 
and sorghum. The cove lands are very productive 
when well drained. Sometimes, however, these coves 
are water bound, and the soil then becomes "craw- 
fishy" and unproductive. The slopes of the mountain, 
and the sides of the deep "gulfs," that appear at 
irregular intervals throughout the county, are densely 
wooded with yellow poplar, sugar tree, white and 
black oak. On top of the mountain there are two 
kinds of timber of much value, the yellow pine and 
chestnut, both growing in* some quantity. Black gum 
is also of frequent occurrence. There are also on the 
mountains much white oak and red oak of a size to 
make cross-ties for railroads, and the getting out of 



96 Middle Tennessee. 

these cross-ties gives employment to many persons 
living on the mountains. The census of 1890 shows 
the following crops: Indian corn, 93,135 bushels, were 
grown on 5,691 acres; wheat, 6,894 bushels, were grown 
on 912 acres; oats, 9,749 bushels, were grown on 992 
acres. Sorghum is largely cultivated in proportion to 
population. Fruit is also grown extensively. Apples 
do remarkably well on the mountain tops, and peaches 
in the coves. Grapes are grown about Tracy City, 
and on the lands of the Swiss colony at Gruetli. A 
very good wine is made, by the Swiss settlers, from the 
native grapes and from those planted by the colony. 
At this colony the best practical tests have been made 
of the capabilities of the mountain sandstone soil. 
Herd's grass and orchard grass, under the manage- 
ment of the Swiss farmers, grow with a surprising 
luxuriance. The former fruitless wilderness is 
crowned with orchards and gardens, with meadows 
and rich fields of clover, rye, and even wheat. The 
yield of rye has been brought up to about 18 bushels to 
the acre; wheat, 10 to 12 bushels; Indian corn, under 
the best cultivation, 20 bushels. Oats make a better 
return than any of the other cereals, reaching, in some 
instances, 38 bushels per acre. Irish potatoes make 
an average yield of about 30 to 40 bushels per acre, 
and double this when the land has been properly 
fertilized. Millet is grown with profit. Tobacco of 
fine fibre and delightful flavor is grown for home con- 
sumption. Butter and cheese are made and exported 
in limited quantities. Mountain farms may be bought 
at prices ranging from $4 to $10 per acre. The farms 
in the coves are held at high figures from $30 to $50 
per acre. Wild mountain lands are worth about $2 to 
$3 per acre. The census of 1890 reports live stock as 
follows: Horses, 628; mules, 232; asses, 6; working 
oxen, 230; milch cows, 918; other cattle, 1,872; sheep, 
1,334; value of live stock, $113,080. Coal is abundant in 
this county. At Tracy City 331,723 tons were mined 
in 1896, and there were 63,868 tons of coke made at 
the same place, where there are 444 coke ovens. The 
red and buff sandstone on the mountain is an exceed- 
ingly valuable building stone. Glass sand exists in 
many places. Tracy City, Altamont, Beersheba, 
Gruetli, Tatesville, and Tariton are the principal towns 
and trading points in the county. The Nashville, 
Chattanooga & St. Louis Eailway furnishes transporta- 
tion by the Tracy City Branch, which leaves the main 



Description of Counties— Hickman. 97 

line at Cowan, in Franklin County. The schools of 
Grundy County are improving from year to year. The 
school house presented by A. M. Shook to the citizens 
of Tracy City for a public school, is one of the hand- 
somest in the State. Thirty cents on the $100 is voted 
by the county for school purposes. 

HICKMAN COUNTY. 

Organized, 1807. County seat, Centreville. Popula- 
tion in 1890, 14,499; white, 11,729; colored, 2,770; per- 
centage of whites, 80.90. Area, 610 square miles (less 
one district recently attached to Lewis County), or 
390,400 acres; inhabitants to the square mile, 23.77; 
acres of improved land, 75,101; unimproved, 167,204. 
Taxable property for 1897, $1,740,515; number of acres 
assessed, 407,827; valued at $1,467,505; value per acre, 
$3.59. Average elevation, 714 feet. This is one of the 
counties of the Highland Rim. Duck River flows in a 
westerly direction entirely through the county; its 
tributaries, Sugar Creek, Beaver Dam, Piney, Swan, 
Lick Creek, and Leatherwood, together with Cane 
Creek, a confluent of Buffalo River, supply every part 
of the county *vdth living water. The surface of the 
county is usually broken, and composed of high rolling 
ridges and deep ravines, pointing generally toward 
the streams; some level, open barrens lie in the 
northern part of the county; the ridges are sterile 
and unproductive; soil siliceous, rocky, and thin, but 
spots occur upon which grow a rank, "barren" grass 
that sustains stock nine months in the year. The 
timber of the ridge is white oak, chestnut oak, red oak, 
black oak, hickory, and chestnut; in the valleys poplar, 
beech, maple, oak, black walnut, box elder, butternut, 
and red bud once prevailed in large quantities, but 
are growing scarce. Some rich areas of chocolate 
colored soil are found; this character of soil is greatly 
superior for the growth of clover. The census of 
1890 reports Indian corn, 709,286 bushels, grown on 
28,634 acres; wheat, 22,003 bushels, grown on 3,282 
acres; oats, 78,994 bushels, grown on 5,535 acres; 
cotton, 204 bales, grown on 1,242 acres; peanuts, 44,285 
bushels, grown on 1,306 acres. Hickman County, like 
all counties cultivated by white labor, is prosperous. 
The farms are usually worked well, and look well. 
They are generally small, and there are but few old 
fields turned out to grow up with broom grass, thorns, 



98 Middle Tennessee. 

and briers. Apples, pears, peaches, plums, and cher- 
ries grow and yield abundantly. The rich river and 
creek bottom lands command a good price, and sell 
from $30 to $50 per acre. The rich uplands are worth 
from $20 to $40 per acre. The hill and plateau lands 
may be bought for $2 and $3 per acre. The census of 
1890 shows live stock as follows: Horses, 1,950; mules, 
2,924; asses, 51; working oxen, 25; milch cows, 297; 
other cattle, 5,258; sheep, 6,613; value of live stock, 
$577,060. Iron ore is abundant, and was worked for 
many years in three first-class charcoal furnaces. 
Phosphates have recently been discovered in that 
county in practically unlimited quantities. (See an- 
other part of this pamphlet for more details.) Centre- 
ville is the principal town in the county. Other vil- 
lages are Warner Furnace, Lyle, Goodrich, Aetna, 
Cantrell, Graham, Pinewood, Sunrise, Jones' Valley, 
Little Lot, Gray town, Lick Creek, Little Rock Mills, 
Bluff Springs, Naomi, Pleasantville, Whitfield, Vernon, 
and Farmers Exchange. Duck River is floatable for 
logs and flat boats. A few small steamers have run 
up as far as Centreville. The Nashville, Chattanooga 
& St. Louis Railway, by its Centreville Branch, leav- 
ing the Northwestern Division near Dtekson, furnishes 
the only railroad facilities. Public schools are grow- 
ing in efficiency, and all prejudice once entertained 
against them has died out. Twenty cents on the $100 
is levied for school purposes. 

HUMPHREYS COUNTY. 

Organized, 1810. County seat, Waverly. Popula- 
tion, 11,720; white, 10,17S; colored, 1,542; percentage 
of whites, 86.84. Area, 450 square miles, or 288,000 
acres; inhabitants to the square mile, 26; acres of im- 
proved land, 67,724; unimproved, 170,426. Taxable 
property for 1897, $1,406,529; number of acres of land 
assessed, 335,621; valued at $1,083,924; value per acre, 
$3.22. Average elevation, 450 feet; the hills rise to 700 
feet. The topography of the county is varied — the 
surface being greatly carved by the numerous streams 
that flow into the Tennessee River. Living springs of 
water, pure and soft, are found everywhere. Duck 
River, the largest stream, is navigable for some dis- 
tance from its mouth. The northern part of the 
county is a succession of creek basins and intervening 
ridges. Duck River valley is probably the best body 



Description of Counties — Humphreys. 99 

of land for growing Indian corn in the State. This 
valley, known as Big Bottom, contains 17,508 acres, and 
the exportation of corn from it annually varies from 
150.000 to 200,000 bushels. The yield often reaches 75 
bushels per acre. The hill lands are thin, and unpro- 
ductive generally, the soil being largely composed of 
flinty gravel, but it is good for growing fine tobacco. 
The creek and river bottom have a rich, friable soil 
that may be cultivated every year without loss of 
fertility. The Duck River valley, as also Buffalo valley, 
ovei flows nearly every year, and a sediment several 
inches in thickness is deposited upon the land, keep- 
ing it up to the highest degree of fertility. The 
county abounds in the greatest variety of timber. 
Various kinds of oaks — white, red, black, and chestnut 
— exist in great abundance. There are also large 
quantities of hickory, ash, poplar, cherry, chestnut, 
black locust, hackberry, beech, and sycamore. Staves 
are made and shipped from this county for European 
demand. The census of 1890 shows the principal crops 
are Indian corn, 739,562 bushels, grown on 24,74S acres; 
wheat, 24,137 bushels, grown on 2,854 acres; oats, 56,6,80 
bushels, grown on 4,233 acres; peanuts, 127,958 bushels, 
grown on 4,558 acres; tobacco, 22,202 pounds, grown on 
37 acres. The hill lands are well adapted to all kinds 
of fruits grown in the State. Apples, peaches, pears, 
plums, cherries, and grapes grow well, and yield abun- 
dantly. There are many varieties of grapes native to 
the soil that flourish with astonishing vigor and 
fecundity. Muscadines are abundant also, and are 
juicy and well flavored, almost equaling in good quali- 
ties the far famed Scuppernong. It is believed by 
experts in vineyards and wine making that the hiil 
lands of Humphreys will make a very high quality of 
wine. The census of 1890 reports live stock as follows: 
Horses, 1,689; mules, 2,296; asses, 38; working oxen, 
425; milch cows, 2,890; other cattle, 5,694; sheep, 6,178; 
value of live stock, $527,460. Some very promising 
indications of iron ore and good building stones are 
found in several places. These ores have never been 
examined with sufficient care to determine their extent 
and value. This county lies in the great Western Iron 
Belt, and beds of iron ore may be looked for with a 
reasonable expectation of finding deposits large 
enough to justify mining. Good bottom lands on Duck 
River are worth from $75 to $100 per acre, with the 
hill land adjoining- thrown in. Bottoms on the Ten- 



100 Middle Tennessee. 

nessee Kiver are not held at half these figures. 
Wooded uplands are worth from $2 to $5 per acre. 
Upland from $5 to $15. The towns and villages in this 
county are Johnson ville, Box, Waverly (county seat), 
Gorman, Briggs, McEwen, and many others. The 
Northwestern Division of the Nashville, Chattanooga 
& St. Louis Railway furnishes ample facilities for 
transportation by rail, and the Tennessee and Duck 
livers by water. More attention is paid to public 
schools than formerly, demonstrated by the fact that 
35 cents on the $100 are paid to the school fund. 



JACKSON COUNTY. 

Organized, 1801. County seat, Gainesborough. Popu- 
lation in 1890, 13,325; white, 12,835; colored, 480; all 
other persons, 10; percentage of whites, 96.40. Area, 
280 square miles, or 179,200 acres; inhabitants to the 
square mile, 47.22; acres of improved land, 84,479; un- 
improved, 100,495. Taxable property for 1897, $1,059,- 
159; number of acres of land assessed, 171,122; valued 
at $939,400; value per acre, $5.48. Elevation about 600 
feet on the portion contained in the Central Basin, and 
850 feet on the Highlands. A good idea may be gained 
of the topography of the county by supposing it orig- 
inally to have been a high champaign region, through 
which the Cumberland River, flowing from northeast 
to southwest, has cut a deep, wide valley. The re- 
mainder of the county has been interveined with 
smaller streams running nearly at right angles to the 
course of the Cumberland River. This has given a 
wide valley with smaller valleys running into it, sepa- 
rated by high, gravelly ridges. The floors of minor 
valleys gradually ascend, and are finally merged into 
the flat highlands. The soils of the valleys are very 
fertile, and will produce in paying quantities all the 
crops that grow in the latitude. The ridge land soils 
are strong, but gravelly, and their surface is often- 
times too steep for tillage. The flat lands have a thin 
and unproductive soil, except where they have a deep 
red subsoil. Some of the latter are very fertile, and 
make the best tobacco lands in the county. The 
county is well watered by the Cumberland and its 
tributaries. The census of 1890 shows the following 
crops: Indian corn, 915,508 bushels, grown on 34,989 
acres; wheat, 42,193 bushels, grown on 6,117 acres; 
oats, 67,270 bushels, grown on 5,699 acres; tobacco, 



Description of Counties — Lewis. 101 

285,255 pounds, grown on 422 acres. Poplar, hickory, 
beech, oaks of several varieties, elm, buckeye, linden, 
and ash predominate. Most of the poplar trees near 
the river have been cut and shipped away, but there 
yet remain good supplies several miles back from the 
river. Walnut was once quite plentiful, but this has 
all been shipped out of the county, with the exception 
of some small and inferior trees. On the flat lands the 
timber is thin, and consists of post oaks, hickory, and 
red oaks mainly. The live stock is reported as follows, 
in the census of 1890: Horses, 2,538; mules, 1,433; 
asses, 38; working oxen, 1,296; milch cows, 2,906; other 
cattle, 4,144; sheep, 6,400; value of live stock, $714,330. 
The richest river bottom farms are worth from $30 to 
$40 per acre. Other bottom lands range from $20 to 
$30 per acre. Upland farms sell at prices varying from 
$5 to $10 per acre. The towns and postoffices are 
Gainsborough (the county seat), Granville, Kough 
Point, Whiteville, North Springs, Mayfield, Flynn's 
Lick, and many others. The county has no means of 
transportation other than the Cumberland River. The 
nearest railroad is the Nashville & Knoxville Railroad, 
which passes through the adjoining counties of Smith 
and Putnam. The public schools are gradually gain- 
ing ground. Institutes are held every summer, and 
the teachers and people seem to enjoy them greatly. 
Only 20 cents on the $100 was levied for the support 
of schools in 1895, according to the last official report 
published. 

LEWIS COUNTY. 

Organized, 1844. County seat, Hohenwald. Popula- 
tion, 2,555; white, 2,336; colored, 219; percentage of 
whites, 91.43. Area, 280 square miles, or 179,200 acres; 
inhabitants to the square mile, 9.12; acres of improved 
land, 11,108; unimproved, 38,603. Taxable property for 
1897, $452,383; number of acres assessed, 167,017; 
valued at $407,568; value per acre, $2.43. Average ele- 
vation on grade of railroad, 840 feet. This county is 
the best representative county of the ancient plateau, 
which formerly constituted the Highland Rim. For 
the most part it is nearly fiat, except where the 
streams have cut grooves in the generally level sur- 
face. Near these streams the surface becomes rolling, 
and there are some steep bluffs bordering the streams. 
A mile or two out from the streams the lands become 



102 



Middle Tennessee. 



flat, and the woods open. There is a strip of such land, 
about three miles wide, running diagonally through 
the county from southeast to northwest, covered for 
the most part with scraggy black jack oaks and barren 
grass. About fifteen streams either take their rise 
in the county or pass through it. The soils upon the 
flat lands are thin and leachy. Much of it will never 
repay cultivation, especially that which has a bluish 
subsoil with yellowish gravel. When the color of the 
subsoil is red, or yellowish red, and the clay tenacious, 
experience has demonstrated that it may be converted 




TOBACCO AT HOHENWALD, LEWIS COUNTY. 



into soils of good fertility, by keeping the fires from 
the woods, and allowing the leaves from the trees to 
form a body of humus. Wherever these forest fires 
are kept down, in a few years a dense growth of under- 
brush springs up, which shades the land and holds 
the leaves until they are converted into humus. There 
are three distinct varieties of soil in this county, the 
alluvial, on the streams; the cherty, on the rolling 
lands; and the yellow and bluish, in the thin barrens. 
The first, dark in color, is warmed by the summer's 
heat into a marvelous fruitfulness. The second may 



Description of Counties — Lewis. 108 

be made fertile by proper attention; the last is good 
for highway pasturage, and for growing yellow to- 
bacco. Good valley lands are in beter demand in Lewis 
County, and at better prices, than in many of the 
richer counties. A prosperous Swiss colony has re- 
cently settled at Hohenwald, and they are growing 
tobacco of high quality with success. It is a good 
fruit region. Apples, peaches, pears, and grapes bear 
remarkably well on these soils. On the level barren 
lands, black jack oaks, post oaks; on the rolling high- 
lands, chestnut oaks, red oaks, hickory, chestnut, and 
some pine and poplar; in the basins of streams, poplar, 
white oak, hickory, gum, ash, and some walnut. The 
census of 1S90 reports the following: Corn, 103,785 
bushels, grown on 5,225 acres; wheat, 3,960 bushels, 
grown on 624 acres; oats, 12,630 bushels, grown on 
1,101 acres; cotton, 14 bales, grown on 91 acres; pea- 
nuts, 2,804 bushels, grown on 123 acres. The high ele- 
vation of this county generally assures a bountiful 
/ fruit crop. It is said to be a rare thing for a peach 
orchard that is planted on the ridge lands to fail of 
bearing. The census of 1890 shows the following for 
live stock: Horses, 409; mules, 392; asses, 8; working 
oxen, 165; milch cows, 625; other cattle, 1,134; sheep, 
1,949; value of live stock, $94,620. Unimproved lands 
are worth from $2 to $3 per acre. Improved bottom 
farms are worth from $20 to $30 per acre for the 
cleared bottoms. Good red upland soils are worth, 
when improved, from $8 to $12 per acre. In the 
southern parts of the county, on the hills bordering 
Chief's Creek, are some extensive beds of iron ores of 
the brown variety. One charcoal furnace is established 
in the county. Phosphates are found in workable 
thickness on Swan Creek. The principal towns and 
villages are: Lewis, Hohenwald (county seat), Napier 
(the seat of the charcoal furnace), Newburgh, Nutt, 
Kimmins, Voorhies, and many others. The Nashville, 
Florence & Sheffield Division of the Louisville & Nash- 
ville Railroad, the Napier Branch of the Louisville & 
Nashville Railroad, and the Centreville Branch of the 
Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway furnish 
ample facilities for transportation. The schools are 
not numerous, and the sparseness of the population 
makes good schools difficult. The school tax amount to 
25 cents on the $100 worth of property. 



104 Middle Tennessee. 

LINCOLN COUNTY. 

Organized, 1809. County seat, Fayetteville. Popula- 
tion, 27,382; white, 21,074; colored, 6,307; percentage of 
whites, 76.97. Area, 540 square miles, or 345,600 acres; 
inhabitants to the square mile, 50.71; acres of improved 
land, 204,139; unimproved, 130,519. Taxable property 
for 1897, $4,362,202; number of acres assessed, 356,527; 
valued at $3,221,667; value per acre, $9.64. Average 
elevation (grade of railroad), 754 feet. Surface di- 
versified by numerous ridges and valleys; Elk Kiver 
divides the county into nearly equal parts, and has 
some fourteen tributary creeks within the county. 
The rock is mainly limestone. The soil, excepting a 
strip on the Alabama line, about eight miles wide, 
which is on the highlands, is fertile; that of Elk River 
and Cave Creek valleys very rich, usually producing 
near 1,000 pounds seed cotton to the acre. The census 
of 1890 reports the following: Indian corn, 1,710,217 
bushels, grown on 59,127 acres; wheat, 284,322 bushels, 
grown on 25,893 acres; oats, 104,964 bushels, grown on 
6,991 acres; cotton, 2,488 bales, grown on 15,000 acres. 
Fruits grow well on the elevated lands. A good deal 
of attention is paid to the cultivation of the grasses, 
for which the low lands in the county give special 
facilities and inducements. Millet is grown exten- 
sively, and the yield upon some of the alluvial soils is 
almost incredible. On the flat lands in the southern 
parts of the county, oak, hickory, chestnut, black jack, 
and sourwood are the principal growth. On the red 
lands, and on the broken lands, in the extreme south- 
ern part of this region, some valuable poplar timber 
is found. On the slopes of Elk River, and on the sides 
of the spurs that run down from the north, there is 
very much excellent timber, consisting of linden, buck- 
eye, hickory, poplar, box elder, black walnut, wild 
cherry, black locust, chestnut, beech, gum, dogwood, 
ironwood, hornbeam, sugar tree, hackberry, cedar, 
and elm. The valleys, originally, were heavily tim- 
bered, but these for the most part have been cleared 
up and put in cultivation. The census of 1890 reports 
the following live stock: Horses, 6,762; mules, 6,046; 
asses, 61; working oxen, 111; milch cows, 6,244; other 
cattle, 11,794; sheep, 11,701; value of live stock, $1,466,- 
950. A few miles east of Fayetteville there is a quarry 
of reddish variegated marble, which, though not so 
fine in texture as that of East Tennessee, is a very 



Description of Counties — Marshall. 105 

valuable stone, and is suitable for inside finishing- as 
well as for outside work. It is sometimes injured by 
small balls of iron pyrite. Prices of land range from 
$3 per acre for the flat uplands to $50 for the valleys. 
Fayetteville has a population of 2,410, and is situated 
near the junction of Norris Creek with Elk Eiver. 
Molino, Mulberry, Petersburg, and Oregon are all 
thriving villages. Elora, the junction of the two rail- 
road branches, is a promising place. The Fayette- 
ville & Huntsville Division of the Nashville, Chatta- 
nooga & St. Louis Railway furnishes ample facilities 
for transportation. Public schools are not as popular 
in Lincoln County as they should be. The school tax 
is onlv 15 cents on the $100. 



MARSHALL COUNTY. 

Organized, 1836. County seat, Lewisburg. Popula- 
tion in 1890, 18,907; white, 14,365; colored, 4,538; per- 
centage of whites, 75.99. Area, 350 square miles, or 
224,000 acres; inhabitants to the square mile, 54. 
Acres of improved land, 146,757; unimproved, 81,481 
acres. Taxable property for 1897, $2,953,912; number 
of acres assessed, 229,467; valued at $2,483,671; value 
per acre, $10.82. Average elevation of grade, 750 feet. 
Duck River flows nearly west through the county. 
Elk Ridge, a high elevation in the southern part of 
the county, sends out numerous spurs, which give the 
surface north of it, and south of Duck River, a high 
rolling character. There are, however, in this part of 
the county, many wide bottoms, between which are 
glady places where the rocks cover the surface like 
a shield. The lands south of Elk Ridge are more 
broken than those north of it, but they are better 
adapted to the growth of cotton, corn, and the grasses. 
The lands on the north side of Duck River are compar- 
atively level. There are but few glady places in this 
part, and the rocks rarely ever crop out at the surface. 
The soils of this county have always been regarded as 
equal in fertility to any in the State. That part of 
the county which lies south, on Richland Creek, prob- 
ably is altogether the finest farming lands in the 
county, and this statement is especially true of the 
Cornersville district. Here are the best blue grass 
soils. The farms are kept in a high state of cultiva- 
tion, and everything about them denotes the thrift 
and industry of the farmers. The surface in the 



106 Middle Tennessee. 

western part of this region is a gently rolling plain, 
and it grows more broken towards the head of Eich- 
land Creek, though the soil is fertile to the crests of 
the ridges. The soil on the ridges is composed largely 
of a flinty and siliceous gravel, and is very friable, 
durable, and easy to work. The soils on the north side 
of Duck Kiver are fertile, but have a more reddish hue 
than those elsewhere in the county. They are very 
strong and durable. In that part of the county nearly 
every farm is fenced with cedar rails. Cotton is 
largely grown near Chapel Hill. The county is well 
supplied with water powers, suitable for propelling 
flouring mills and carding machines, and sufficient for 
other manufactories, should they be erected. The tim- 
ber of Marshall County has always been one of its 
greatest resources. There are cedar forests, the 
largest probably now in the State. Originally, there 
were about 80 square miles covered with a dense cedar 
growth, but much of this has been cut off. A great 
deal of it has been used for fencing purposes. The 
farmers prefer a cedar fence to a stone one. It is 
much easier to move, and it is not so liable to fall 
down. It is said that there are cedar fences in the 
county, that were built as early as 1812, still in a 
sound condition. The best cedar timber is the pro- 
duct of a good soil. Where cedar timber does not 
grow, the region is covered with oaks of different 
species, poplar, ash, elm, linden, beech, sugar tree, 
■walnut, cherry, locust, hackberry, buckeye, and on the 
southern slopes of Elk Eidge, chestnut. The eastern 
side of the county, though destitute of cedar forests, 
has a good supply of white oak, sugar tree, hickory, 
and formerly of walnut. The latter has been mostly 
cut down and shipped out of the county. The census 
of 1890 shows that 1,403,592 bushels of Indian corn 
were grown on 48,903 acres; 196,877 bushels of wheat 
were grown on 20,724 acres; 136,646 bushels of oats 
were grown on 8,884 acres; 452 bales of cotton were 
grown on 3,009 acres. Potatoes and garden vege- 
tables are grown in quantities for home consumption, 
and some for shipment, especially Irish potatoes. Blue 
grass, clover, timothy, and herd's grass all find con- 
genial soils in the county, and grow luxuriantly. Much 
millet is grown for hay. Apples, peaches, cherries, 
and other fruits are plentiful. The hilly lands of the 
county make an excellent fruit region. Peaches rarely 
ever fail on the sandstone hills. Apples and peaches 



Description of Counties — Maury. 107 

are largely made into brandy, and sold, and both are 
dried to some extent. Statistics for the eleventh 
census shows the following live stock: Horses, 7,449; 
mules, 4,565; asses, 326; working oxen, 64; milch cows, 
4,624; other cattle, 8,488; sheep, 11,130; value of live 
stock, $1,365,715. Limestone and sandstone rocks, 
suitable for building purposes, are the only thing in 
the way of minerals that the county possesses. Farm- 
ing lands rate very high in this county. The best 
farms readily command $50 per acre, and a few even 
more. Hill lands range from $10 to $25 per acre, 
according to the value of the timber and the fertility 
of the -soils. Cedar forests are held at still higher 
prices. Indeed, it is now difficult to buy a good cedar 
forest at any reasonable price. The thriving towns 
and villages are Belfast, Lewisburg (county seat, popu- 
lation 631), South Berlin, Silver Creek on the line of 
railway. Other towns not on the line are Corners- 
ville, Roberson, Globe, Mooresville, Farmington, Ve- 
rona, Rich Creek, Caney Spring, Holt's Corner, Beasley, 
Chapel Hill, and many others. The Fayetteville & 
Huntsville Division of the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. 
Louis Railway furnishes ample facilities for trans- 
portation. Schools are very good in the thickly settled 
portions of the county. The school tax is 35 cents on 
the $100 worth of property. 



MAURY COUNTY. 

Organized, 1807. County seat, Columbia. Popula- 
tion, 38,112; white, 22,090; colored, 16,022; percentage 
of whites, 57.96. Area, 590 square miles, or 377,600 
acres; inhabitants to the square mile, 64.6; acres of 
improved land, 239,193; unimproved, 124,430. Taxable 
property for 1897, $8,077,950; number of acres assessed, 
377,663; valued at $5,344,575; value per acre, $14.15. 



Av.erage elevation, 650 feet. In point of country 
wealth Maury ranks first in the State. An orographic 
view of the county would present the picture of a 
section of a river valley running almost due east and 
west with the dip to the west, and fringed to the 
north and south by smaller valleys that furrow the 
sides of irregular ranges of knobs or hills that lie 
along the northern and southern boundaries of the 
county. To the west these hills broaden out into the 
uplands known as the "barrens," forming a part of 
the Highland Rim. The bed of this valley is occu- 



108 Middle Tennessee. 

pied by Duck Paver, which flows through the whole 
extent of the county, dividing- it almost equally. This 
river drains the entire county; all other streams in 
the county flow into it. It is not navigable, though it 
is floatable through the entire extent of the county, 
and was, in former years, much used for the trans- 
portation of corn and lumber. The timber is the same 
as in Marshall and Bedford counties, with the excep- 
tion of cedar forests. There are four leading divisions 
of lands, the "barrens," the creek bottoms, the cedar 
lands, and the rich limestone and clay soil, the latter 
constituting the bulk of the county. Probably the 
finest farming lands in the State, and the best im- 
proved, are those lying west of Columbia, between the 
Little Bigbee and Big Bigbee creeks, including the re- 
gion around Mount Pleasant. With such varieties in 
quality, land ranges in prices from $100 per acre for 
small, highly improved places, in good neighborhoods, 
down as low as $2 for wild lands in the "barrens," 
plenty of which can be had at that price. It is hard 
to give an idea as to prices of lands, but excellent 
places, with fairly good improvements and conven- 
iently situated, have sold for $35 to $40 per acre, and 
medium lands near them at $20 and $25 on the usual 
time, one-third cash, balance in one and two years. 
The census of 1890 reports the following: Indian corn, 
2,303,414 bushels, grown on 82,093 acres; wheat, 346,716 
bushels, grown on 26,711 acres; oats, 299,068 bushels, 
grown on 14,642 acres; cotton, 1,677 bales, grown on 
15,150 acres. Irish potatoes are also grown largely as 
a field crop. Maury is the largest corn producing 
county in the State. A considerable quantity of poul- 
try, eggs, and butter is shipped every year, and adds 
largely to the revenues of the household. Fruits, es- 
pecially peaches, apples, and plums, are grown with 
good success. Grapes are also successfully grown 
upon suitable soils and exposures, and yield abun- 
dantly. There is not one acre in forty or fifty actually 
thrown out ot cultivation, and gone to waste from ex- 
haustion. It should be borne in mind that with high 
farming and good culture, the yield of the various 
crops might be increased two or three times what it 
is under the slipshod farming practiced all over the 
State. It is as a live stock region that the greatness 
of Maury County in the future must lie. There is not 
in all the Americas a fitter place for the rearing of 



Description of Counties — Maury. 109 

improved animals. Everything — the soil, the hills, the 
streams, the grasses and grains, the sheltering woods, 
and the abundant mast, all decide the destiny of this 
county. All the grasses grow bountifully upon well 
selected soils. Timothy, herd's grass, orchard grass, 
blue grass, clover, Randall grass, Italian rye grass, and 
many other yield satisfactory crops. Barley and rye 
are sown to some extent for winter and spring graz- 
ing. It must equal, and even surpass, the blue grass 
region of Kentucky, when men of capital take the live 
stock business in hand and push it to its utmost limits. 
Much has been done already in the way of breeding 
trotting horses, and raising improved breeds of cattle 
and sheep, and the tendency is all towards a higher 
aim. Probably the largest Jersey cattle herd south of 
the Ohio River is in Maury County. The census of 
1890 shows: Horses, 9,567; mules, 10,345; asses, 477; 
working oxen, 137; milch cows, 7,417; other cattle, 
7 13,190; sheep, 12,567; value of live stock, $2,336,700. 
Some good deposits of iron ore have been found within 
a few miles of Mt. Pleasant. Around that place has 
recently been discovered extensive easily mined and 
valuable beds of phosphates. This discovery was made 
in December, 1894, and mining was begun in the fol- 
lowing July 17. In the year 1897 about 110,000 tons 
of this phosphate was shipped to every part of the 
country. For more practical description see "phos- 
phates" in this pamphlet. Some excellent building 
stone is found in the county, it being a whitish lime- 
stone. The towns and villages of this county are 
Britton, Park's Station, Columbia (county seat), Car- 
ter's Creek, Ewell's Station, Godwin, Hurricane Switch, 
Culleoka, Ashwood, Mt. Pleasant, Sandy Hook, Rock- 
dale, and others are on the line of railroad. Those 
not on the line of any railroad are Hampshire, Lips- 
comb, Frierson, Williamsport, Saw Dust Valley, Duck 
River Station, Water Valley, Santa Fe, Lodebar, Hardi- 
son's Mills, Spring Hill, and others. The Decatur 
Division of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, the 
Nashville, Florence & Sheffield Division of the same 
road, and the Fayetteville & Huntsville Branch of the 
Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway furnish 
ample means of transportation. Columbia has always 
been noted for its schools of high character for the 
education of young ladies. There are many excellent 
private schools in the various towns. Public schools 



HO Middle Tennessee. 

do not seem to be popular, judging- from the fact that 
the school tax from the last published official report 
is only 13 cents on the $100 worth of property. 



MOORE COUNTY. 

Organized, 1872. County seat, Lynchburg. Popula- 
tion, 5,975; white, 5,434; colored, 541; percentage of 
white, 90.95. Area, 170 square miles, or 108,880 acres; 
inhabitants to the square mile, 33.15; acres of improved 
land, 45,503; unimproved, 24,426. Taxable property for 
1897, $609,536; number of acres assessed, 70,410; valued 
at $518,994; value per acre, $7.37. Elevation, 750 feet 
in the part lying in the Central Basin, and 950 feet on 
the highlands. The surface of this county is greatly 
diversified. On the eastern border it is a high, flat, 
slightly rolling plain, which breaks off to the south 
and west into ridges and ravines, some of the latter 
having a depth of 300 to 400 feet below the plain. 
These ridges are spurs which shoot out into the valleys 
of the Elk and Mulberry and their tributaries, the 
valleys constituting a part of the broken southern 
division of the Central Basin, which is partially cut 
off by Elk Ridge. About one-half of the county lies 
upon the Highland Rim, and the remainder in the 
Central Basin. These ridges are very fertile on the 
slopes, and often to their very summits. Elk Ridge 
runs east and west between Duck and Elk rivers. It 
is narrow and irregular, but very productive, almost 
as much so as bottom land. This ridge is a type of 
the others. Elk River, Mulberry, and Hurricane all 
furnish mill sites. The slopes of the ridges were once 
heavily timbered with yellow poplar, oak, chestnut, 
walnut, sugar tree, linden, and black locust, with an 
undergrowth of pawpaw, dogwood, and other growths 
indicative of a fruitful soil. The flat lands are gener- 
ally poorly timbered with black jack oaks and scrubby 
post oaks, though occasionally fine groves of chestnut 
timber and red oaks are found, and especially where 
the lands are slightly rolling. The census of 1890 re- 
ports the following: Indian corn, 457,806 bushels, 
grown on 14,963 acres; wheat, 73,169 bushels, grown on 
6,784 acres; oats, 27,386 bushels, grown on 2,114 acres; 
rye, 8,862 bushels, grown on 1,188 acres. Moore stands 
at the head of all the counties in Tennessee in the 
yield of corn per acre. Blue grass grows well on the 
slopes of the ridges and in the bottoms. The bottom 



Description of Counties — Overton. Ill 

lands also produce generously of Hungarian grass, 
German millet, timothy, clover, and herd's grass. The 
natural advantages offered for dairy farming are very 
superior. The live stock interest is a considerable one 
in the county, and the grades of cattle, hogs, and sheep 
are being constantly improved. Statistics from the 
eleventh census shows: Horses, 1,373; mules, 1,150; 
asses, 20; working oxen, 13; milch cows, 1,486; other 
cattle, 2,488; sheep, 2,194; value of live stock, $332,780. 
With the exception of good building stone, there are 
no minerals in the county worth noticing. The range 
of prices of lands in this county run from $2 to $3 for 
flat lands on the highlands, to $8 and $10 on the 
ridges, and $25 to $35 in the valleys. Towns and post- 
offices are Scivally, Ridgeville, Lynchburg, Leickhart, 
Fuga, and many others. There are no railroads at 
present in the county. Public schools are not what 
they should be, and there is a want of interest among 
many persons that is deplorable. Public sentiment on 
this question is demonstrated by the fact that only 
10 cents on the $100 worth of property is levied for 
school purposes. 



OVERTON COUNTY. 

Organized, 1806. County seat, Livingston. Popula- 
tion in 1890, 12,039; white, 11,767; colored, 272; percent- 
age of whites, 97.74. Area, 540 square miles, or 345,600 
acres; inhabitants to the square mile, 22.3; acres of 
improved land, 81,547; unimproved, 132,282. Taxable 
property for 1897, $764,732; number of acres of land 
assessed, 232,859; valued at $698,661; value per acre, 
$3. Average elevation, 850 feet on the Highland Rim, 
and 1,000 to 1,800 feet on the knobby and mountainous 
portion. The southeast corner of this county rests 
upon the Cumberland Table-land, and presents the 
characteristics common to that division of the State. 
Between the east and west fork of Obey's River there 
is a ridge or arm very irregular in outline extending 
northward for fifteen miles. This ridge is of the same 
elevation as the table-land, but in places drops down to 
"terraces" or "benches," which occupy a large part of 
the county; their elevation is about half of the table- 
land; verdant valleys and coves nestle between these 
spurs which fringe the table-land. The soils are rich 
wherever limestone appears above the terraces. The 
timber is dense and heavy; poplar, oak, shellbark hick- 



112 Middle Tennessee. 

ory, sugar maple, etc., are found in the rich soils. 
The bench lands, away from the vacinity of limestone, 
are leachy and thin, and chestnut trees, oaks, etc., 
prevail. Half the lands are almost worthless, except 
for pasturage; unimproved lands range in price from 
$1 to $10; ten dollars is perhaps the average, and 
$20 per acre is perhaps the highest limit for farms that 
are for sale. The county is well watered by Obey's 
River and its tributary, West Fork, and Roaring River, 
a confluent of the Cumberland. Coal is found near 
Obey's River. Petroleum has been found in large 
quantities. The census of 1890 reports: Horses, 2,423; 
mules, 1,270; asses, 38; working oxen, 824; milch cows, 
3,414; other cattle, 6,167; sheep, 9,636; value of live 
stock, $459,770. The census of 1890 shows the follow- 
ing: Corn, 516,710 bushels, grown on 28,932 acres; 
wheat, 27,889 bushels, grown on 6,558 acres; oats, 88,282 
bushels, grown on 10,177 acres; rye, 1,010 bushels, 
grown on 211 acres; tobacco, 32,545 pounds, grown on 
60 acres. In all the valley lands grasses are prolific 
in their growth and yield. The sorghum crop is also 
large, and the county stands along with the first in 
the production of maple sugar and sorghum molasses. 
The towns and postoffices are: Beaver Hill, Bushing, 
Cliff Springs, Eagle Creek, France, Garrott, Grey, 
Hanging Limb, Hilham, Lovejoy, Monroe, Netherland, 
Oak Hill, Oakley, Ward, Waterloo, West Fork, and 
many others. Overton County has no railroad at 
present. In a thinly settled region like Overton 
County, it is almost impossible to maintain good 
schools. The want of such schools is depressing to 
the public spirited men, of whom Overton County has 
its fair proportion. Good 'schools, well sustained, 
would soon destroy the apathy now felt by a majority 
of the people in regard to schools. The school tax 
from last published report was 15 cents on the $100 
worth of property. 



PERRY COUNTY. 

Organized, 1821. County seat, Linden. Popula- 
tion, 7,785; white, 7,114; colored, 671; percentage of 
whites, 91.38. Area, 400 square miles, or 256,000 acres; 
inhabitants to the square mile, 19.46; acres improved 
land, 44,383; unimproved, 137,243. Taxable property 
for 1897, $884,098; number of acres assessed, 275,824; 
valued at $729,537; value per acre, $2.64. Average ele- 



Description of Counties — Perry. 113 

vation, 400 feet in Tennessee Eiver basin; 800 feet on 
Buffalo Ridge. The surface of the county is a series 
of ridges. Buffalo Ridge, west of Buffalo Kiver, and 
running parallel with it, traverses the county north 
and south. The ridge sends out to the west eight 
subordinate ridges nearly to Tennessee River, a dis- 
tance of about nine miles. Between these subordinate 
ridges streams of pure freestone water flow in parallel 
lines over beds of gravel, and empty into the Tennessee 
River. On the eastern side of Buffalo Ridge are short, 
parallel spurs running down to Buffalo River. These 
spurs are seldom over a mile in length, and the 
troughs which they form carry the water from the 
eastern slope of Buffalo Ridge to Buffalo River. The 
portion of the county east of Buffalo River is also 
fluted with ridges and valleys similar to those on the 
western side of the river, and many beautiful streams 
bordered by fertile bottoms empty into Buffalo River, 
which, throughout » the county, maintains its parallel- 
ism with the Tennessee River. The soils of the 
bottom lands are gravelly, but fertile. The gravel 
with which the soils are charged makes the land 
very loose. By reason of this friability, the soils 
are especially adapted to the growth of peanuts, 
and this crop for a number of years has been the 
staple crop of the county. The soils on the ridges are 
rather thin, and soon wash away when put in cultiva- 
tion. Buffalo valley is one of the most productive m 
the State. Perry County is one of the best timbered 
counties in Middle Tennessee. White oak, poplar, and 
hickory of magnificent size are found growing, not 
only in the valleys, but on the minor ridges which run 
from Buffalo Ridge to the Tennessee River. Chestnut 
oak grows in great abundance everywhere on the 
ridges, and some chestnut is found on Buffalo Ridge. 
The largest supplies of virgin poplar forests in Middle 
Tennessee are probably in this county. The census 
of 1890 reports the following: Indian corn, 359,788 
bushels, grown on 14,721 acres; wheat, 14,898 bushels, 
grown on 1,826 acres; oats, 30,837 bushels, grown on 
2,423 acres; peanuts, 182,801 bushels, grown on 4,962 
acres; cotton, 129 bales, grown on 469 acres. Perry 
takes the first rank, and has for many years, in the 
production of peanuts, not only in the quantity pro- 
duced, but in the yield per acre, and in the quality of 
the nuts. The census of 1890 gives the following in 
reference to live stock: Horses, 1,070; mules, 1,522; 



114 Middle "Tennessee. 

asses, 10; working- oxen, 456; milch cows, 1,923; other 
cattle, 2,945; sheep, 4,966; value of live stock, $318,610. 
Iron ore is abundant in the county. There is an ex- 
cellent deposit on Cedar Creek, one of the tributaries 
of Tennessee River. Almost every ridge shows some 
indication of iron ore. White phosphates belonging 
to the subcarboniferous formation are found in many 
parts of the county. They sometimes run as high as 
85 per cent, in bone phosphate. Creek and river bot- 
toms command high prices, sometimes as high as $35 
per acre. Ridge lands, unless well timbered, are very 
cheap, bringing from $2 to $4 per acre. Good timbered 
lands readily bring $4 per acre if convenient to water 
transportation. The most thriving towns and villages 
in this county are: Linden, Cedar Creek Landing, 
Denson's Landing, Britt's Landing, Tom's Creek, Allen, 
Farmers' Valley, Peter's Landing, and many others. 
Perry County has no railroad at present, but the Ten- 
nessee River furnishes water transportation. The 
public school feeling is growing rapidly. The superin- 
tendent in his last published report says: "At last the 
county court has awakened from its ignorant slumber, 
and is now making some liberal appropriation for our 
schools." The tax for schools is 40 cents on the $100. 



PUTNAM COUNTY. 

Organized, 1842. County seat, Cookeville. Popula- 
tion in 1890, 13,683; white, 13,045; colored, 638; percent- 
age of whites, 95.34.* Area, 460 square miles, or 294,400 
acres; inhabitants to the square mile, 29.75; acres of 
improved land, 75,944; unimproved, 121,507. Taxable 
property in 1897, $1,101,000; number of acres assessed, 
227,682; valued at $930,840; value per acre, $4.08. Aver- 
age elevation about 680 feet in the western part of the 
county, and 1,700 feet on the Cumberland Table-land 
portion. Putnam County in its shape is a long par- 
allelogram, extending east and west forty miles, while 
in width it is only about twelve miles. The eastern 
end, comprising about one-eighth of its area, is on the 
Cumberland Table-land. The east and west forks of 
Obey's River flow north, Spring Creek northwest, 
Falling Water nearly west, Calf Killer River southwest, 
and just across the line, in Cumberland County, are 
the head springs of Emory, which flows east into 
Clinch River about Kingston. These streams, except 
the last, in their descent from this elevated plateau, 



Description of Counties — Putnam. 115 

have cut through the western escarpment, forming 
many deep ravines and sequestered valleys, with 
toweling ridges projecting between. The scenery here 
is remakable for its wildness and sublimity. As one 
approaches the central part of the county, the valleys 
become wider, and the ridges and spurs run out into 
lower hills, or disappear entirely. This is the clay 
region, a broad belt of which extends along the west- 
ern base of the table-land. This belt is about fourteen 
miles wide, and is the best part of the county. Its 
surface is diversified with hill and dale, the beds of 
most -of the streams being considerably below the 
general level of the country. The county becomes 
more level, and the lands less fertile, towards the west, 
until the part of the county designated by the signifi- 
cant name "barrens" is reached. The surface is gen- 
erally level, except in the neighborhood of the streams, 
and the timber is thin, and of small size. The soil of 
the table-land pqrtion is much like that of Coffee 
County, and the red belt is very much like that around 
Deeherd, in Franklin County, while the soils of the 
mountain do not differ from those described in Grundy 
County. Lands in this county are very cheap, in pro- 
portion to their productive capacity. Good red lands, 
highly productive, may be bought at prices ranging 
from $3 to $15 per acre, according to location and im- 
provements. The valley lands are worth from $15 to 
$30. The barren lands range in price from $2 to $5 
per acre, and the mountain lands about the same. The 
coves and slopes of the mountains furnish some very 
valuable poplar and walnut timber In the valleys, in 
the western parts of the county, are also some excel- 
lent timber. The timber of the "barrens" is light, and 
is composed of black jack oak, red oak, hickory, and 
post oak. On the red lands are some valuable timber 
trees, but most of the forest in this part of the county 
has been denuded of its best timber. Hickory is 
quite abundant on the red lands, and frequently good 
poplars are interspersed with the red oaks. The cen- 
sus of 1890 reports the following: Indian corn, 589,428 
bushels, grown on 27,265 acres; wheat, 37,603 bushels, 
grown on 6,889 acres; oats, 78,039 bushels, grown on 
8,349 acres; tobacco, 45,960 pounds, grown on 65 acres. 
The adaptation of the county to sheep husbandry has 
induced "many good farmers to introduce the improved 
breeds, Southdowns, Cotswolds, and Leicester. These, 
when crossed upon the native breeds, produce a type 



116 Middle Tennessee. 

well suited for the barrens and the mountain fast- 
nesses in the eastern parts of the county. Many beef 
cattle are raised in the county, which are driven to the 
mountain tops early in spring, and find a supply of 
mountain grasses for their subsistence until the frosty 
days of October or November set in. Statistics from 
the census of 1890 reports the following live stock: 
Horses, 2,883; mules, 1,374; asses, 31; working oxen, 
916; milch cows, 2,833; other cattle, 4,482; sheep, 8,091; 
value of live stock, $483,870. Coal exists in workable 
seams in the eastern part of the county. Some iron 
banks occur. Lithographic stone of fine quality exists 
two and a half miles northeast of Allgood, a station on 
the Nashville & Knoxville Railroad. This stone has 
been tested by some of the best lithographic establish- 
ments in the United States, and has been pronounced 
to be equal to the German stone. The quantity is 
practically inexhaustible. (See description in another 
part of this pamphlet.) The towns and villages of im- 
portance are : Buffalo Valley, Double Springs, Allgood, 
Cookeville, Standing Stone, all on the line of railway. 
Burton, Silver Point, Dry Valley, Calf Killer, Bloom- 
ington, Buffalo Valley, Pine Fork, and many others. 
The Nashville & Knoxville Railroad furnishes trans- 
portation for the central parts of the county. Public 
schools are gradually improving. 



RUTHERFORD COUNTY. 

Organized, 1804. County seat, Murfreesboro. Popu- 
lation in 1890, 35,097; white, 20,595; colored, 14,502; 
percentage of white, 58.68. Area, 590 square miles, or 
377,600 acres; inhabitants to the square mile, 60; acres 
of improved land, 226,089; unimproved, 140,862. Tax- 
able property in 1S97, $6,363,540; number of acres 
assessed, 372,406; valued at $4,521,400; value per acre, 
$12.14. Elevation, 620 feet. This county occupies the 
very center of the great Central Basin of Tennessee, 
and also the geographical center of the State. Taking 
Murfreesboro as a center, with a radius of ten miles, 
and describe a circle, the included area will be a basin 
within the great Central Basin. Elevations appear in 
the distance, showing that the circumference of this 
circle is bounded by a cordon of hills, rising some two 
or three hundred feet above this circular interior basin, 
which appears as a level plain. The soils of the county 
were originally exceedingly fertile, but improvident 



Description of Counties — Rutherford. 117 

cultivation has impaired their productiveness in a large 
part of the county. Nevertheless, the soils are easily 
and cheaply reclaimed. Resting-, for the most part, on 
a red clay subsoil, they have the capacity to retain 
all fertilizing material put upon them. The lands are 
well adapted to clover, and two or three crops of this 
forage plant will bring the poorest old worn out field 
to a condition to be profitably cultivated. The first 
crop of clover needs the application of some fertilizer, 
or of stable manure. After this, the clover takes care 
of itself, leaving a thick mulch upon the surface, 
which soon enriches the soil. There are two principal 
soils in the county, black and brown, or mulatto, the 
latter predominating, to a large extent, in both quan- 
tit}^ and quality. Under this latter soil is found the 
red subsoil already mentioned. In some localities 
shaly limestones crop out, rendering the surface unfit 
for tillage. It is estimated that only one-fifth of the 
land is rendered worthless for cultivation by these 
rocky areas. The county is watered by the east and 
west forks of Stone River, and other tributaries, which 
furnish ample water privileges. The native forest 
growth consists of the various kinds of oaks, poplar, 
cedar, hickory, beech, buckeye, sj^camore, black and 
yellow locusts, ash, elm, walnut, hornbeam, mulberry, 
cherry, dogwood, sassafras, pawpaw, cucumber tree, 
sugar tree, aspen, hackberry, linden, box elder, coffee 
tree, black and sweet gum, and chittem or yellow 
wood. The prevailing timber, however, is oak, cedar, 
poplar, hickory, and beech. The census of 1890 reports 
the following: Indian corn, 1,925,083 bushels, grown on 
71,427 acres; wheat, 270,937 bushels, grown on 24,952 
acres; oats, 171,333 bushels, grown on 10,668 acres; 
barley, 1,177 bushels, grown on 86 acres; rye, 2,466 
bushels, grown on 366 acres; cotton, 4,770 bales, grown 
on 25,025 acres. In the production of corn Rutherford 
is only surpassed by one other county in the State, 
Maury. It takes the seventh place in the production 
of wheat, and the sixth place in the production of 
oats. In 1889 it fell to the fourteenth place in the pro- 
duction of cotton. It stands now second only to Giles 
County, among the counties in Middle Tennessee, in 
the production of cotton. A large amount of good 
stock is raised in Rutherford County. Statistics of 
1890 shows the following: Horses, 10,516; mules, 5,136; 
asses, 485; working oxen, 79; milch cows, 7,279; other 
cattle, 12,566; sheep, 12,521; value of live stock, $1,680,- 



118 Middle Tennessee. 

420. Rutherford County takes the first rank in the 
State in the number of horses, second in the number 
of asses, and fifth in the number of milch cows; 
Davidson County first and Maury second. Rutherford 
takes the third place in the value of live stock, Maury 
having the first and Wilson the second. There are no 
minerals in this county worthy of mention, with the 
exception of building stone. In proportion to the in- 
trinsic value, the land in this county is probably as 
cheap as any in the State. Good productive farms, 
convenient to the market and railroads, and good ma- 
cadamized roads, are worth from $20 to $30 per acre. 
In remote parts of the county good farming lands may 
be bought for prices ranging from $15 to $25 per acre. 
In no county in the State could good, intelligent im- 
migrant farmers do better. The habit of cropping on 
shares has not been beneficial to the agriculture of 
Rutherford County. The towns and villages are La- 
vergne, Smyrna, Wade, Florence, Russell, Murfrees- 
boro, Winstead, Rucker, Christiana, and Fosterville, 
all on the line of the railroad. Other towns not on 
this line of road are Midland, Eagleville, Versailles, 
Rockvale, Everglade, Patterson, Crescent, Overall, 
Snell, Almaville, Rocky Fort, Hoover, Millersburg, 
Jordan's Valley, Carlocksville, Wayside, Pinkard, Kit- 
trell, Compton, Milton, Jefferson, Lowe, Readyville, and 
many others. The main line of the Nashville, Chat- 
tanooga & St. Loiiis Railway furnishes ample means for 
transportation. The region around Murfreesboro, on 
the last day of 1862, and the two first days of 1863, 
was the theater of some of the bloodiest battles of the 
civil war. The rains were continuous, and the cold 
severe. Not fewer than 25,000 men were killed, 
wounded, and missing from both armies during these 
three dreadful days. A national cemetery, beautifully 
kept, near the town contains the remains of 6,145 of 
the Federals who fell. The Confederate soldiers found 
burial elsewhere. The school facilities in the county 
are good in the larger towns, but the schools in the 
rural districts are not taught as long as they should 
be to promote the best interests of the county. The 
school tax is 30 cents on the $100, as given in the last 
published report. 

SMITH COUNTY. 

Organized, 1799. County seat, Carthage. Popula- 
tion in 1890, 18,404; white, 15,406; colored, 2,998; per- 



Description op Counties — Smith. 119 

rentage of whites, 83.71. Area, 360 square miles, or 
230,200 acres; inhabitants to the square mile, 51; acres 
of improved lands, 121,135; unimproved, 83,034. Tax- 
able property for 1897, $3,075,030; number of acres 
assessed, 198,581; valued at $2,557,711; value per acre, 
$12.88. Average elevation, 600 feet. Although this 
county is usually classed among those which belong to 
the Central Basin, it is rimmed on the north and east 
by the highlands. Many of the spurs, though narrow, 
run far in towards the center of the county, filling it 
with ridges, and giving' it an uneven surface. This is 
especially the case with those portions that lie north 
of the- Cumberland River and east of Caney Fork. 
South and west of these streams the hills are not so 
high, but the surface is rolling and hilly. The county 
is remarkably well watered by Cumberland River, 
Caney Fork, and their tributaries. Nearly all of these 
streams have wide and exceedingly fertile valleys. No 
county in the State has soils more fertile than those 
/ in Smith County. , The alluvial bottoms are exceed- 
ingly productive, while the hills and ridges, where the 
soil is derived from the Nashville and Lebanon lime- 
stones, are fertile almost beyond belief. The calcare- 
ous gravel that abounds on these sloping lands, gives 
the soil a vitality and durability of constitution that 
are not surpassed by any soils in the Mississippi valley. 
The soils upon the ridges, where the subcarboniferous 
rocks are found, are not so productive, but they 
abound in the very best timber. The county is very 
well watered by the Cumberland and Caney Fork, and 
their tributaries. Poplar is the most valuable tree in 
the county. This grows to be an enormous size, often 
five to six feet in diameter. White oak is a valuable 
timber tree, as well as hickory; elm and beech also are 
common forest growths. Walnut was once abundant, 
but as a lumber tree it has been exhausted. Statistics 
from census of 1S90 shows the following: Corn, 1,271,- 
853 bushels, grown on 42,261 acres; wheat, 122,857 
bushels, grown on 14,786 acres; oats, 132,127 bushels, 
grown on 8,158 acres; tobacco, 991,758 pounds, grown 
on 1,202 acres. Timothy, herd's grass, and clover are 
extensively sown and cut for hay. The yield is large. 
For the raising of live stock but few counties are 
better adapted by nature. Statistics of live stock 
from the census of 1890 reports the following: Horses, 
5,817; mules, 3,105; asses, 123; working oxen, 571; 
milch cows, 3,612; other cattle, 5,916; sheep, 8,264; 



130 Miptvltc Tennessee. 

value of live stock, $932,690. There are no minerals 
in this county other than building- stone and mineral 
springs. Good valley farms are worth from $25 to $50 
per acre. Hillside farms about two-thirds as much. 
Ridge land varies in price from $4 to $10 per acre, 
according to the timber and accessibility. Towns and 
villages on the Nashville & Knoxville Railroad are 
Holmes Gap, Brush Creek, Sykes, Hickman, Junction, 
(iordonsville, Carthage, Lancaster. Other towns not 
on the line are New Middleton, Enoch, Rome, Dixon's 
Springs, Pleasant Shade, Kempville, Donoho, Elmwood, 
Chestnut Mound, Stonewall, and others. The Nash- 
ville & Knoxville Railroad furnishes transportation. 
The schools of the county are improving- every year in 
efficiency, though much remains to be done in that 
direction. 

VANBUREN COUNTY. 

Organized, 1840. County seat, Spencer. Popula- 
tion in 1890, 2,863; white, 2,794; colored, 69; percent- 
age of white, 97.66. Area, 340 square miles, or 227,600 
acres; inhabitants to the square mile, 8.42; acres of 
improved land, 21,578; unimproved, 53,643. Taxable 
property for 1897, $297,184; number of acres assessed, 
218,894; valued at $285,831; value per acre, $1.30. 
Average elevation, 1,800 feet. This county, lying 
partly on the Cumberland Table-land and partly on 
the mountain slopes and in the valleys, presents great 
diversity in surface, soil, and productions. The table- 
land part embraces the southeastern part of the 
county. The slopes on the sides of the table-land, and 
its spurs and outlying ridges, are an important 
feature, and occupy a considerable part of the area of 
the county. These are too rugged for cultivation, and 
are valuable chiefly for the timber. Spurs of greater 
or less magnitude extend outward at irregular dis- 
tances apart, sometimes inclosing valleys or coves of 
considerabe size, in some of which the best lands in 
the county are found. Beyond the range of these 
spurs are the red clay lands, extending north to the 
Caney Fork and west to Rocky River. The surface is 
generally broken or undulating. All of the streams, 
except the larger creeks, are underground. Border- 
ing Caney Fork and Rocky River, which form the 
boundary of the county on the north and west, are 
bold bluffs of limestone extending down to the water's 
edge. A description of the soil of the table-land is 



Description of Counties — Warren. 121 

given in Grundy County. The coves have the richest 
soil of ail the lands in the county. In some of them 
the soil overlying- the clay subsoil is ten feet deep. 
Very heavy crops of the cereals are taken from them 
year after year without any loss in their productive 
powers. In the valleys the soil is a dark, rich loam, 
resting- on a subsoil of strong- clay, and with good 
tillage it is inexhaustible. Census of 1890 reports the 
following crops: Indian corn, 134,515 bushels, grown 
on 7,388 acres; wheat, 10,813 bushels, grown on 1,830 
acres; oats, 11,853 bushels, grown on 1,245 acres; rye, 
363 bushels, grown on 91 acres. The table-land is 
thinly -wooded usually, but much of the timber is 
valuable, chiefly oaks and chestnut. The mountain 
sides, "gulfs," and ravines are densely timbered with 
chestnut, poplar, ash, maple, walnut, buckeye, cherry, 
linden, beech, and other varieties. Much of this tim- 
ber is valueless, by reason of its inaccessibility, and 
for want of transportation. Statistics for 1890 shows 
live stock as folows,: Horses, 453; mules, 307; asses, 13; 
working oxen, 168; milch cows, 768; other cattle, 2,106; 
sheep, 2,049; value of live stock, $123,080. Coal under- 
lies three-fifths of the county, in seams from a few 
inches to six feet in thickness. It has only been mined 
for local purposes. Some iron ore occurs along the 
northern border of the county, but it has never been 
thoroughly prospected with a view of development. 
Chalybeate springs are numerous on the mountain, 
many of them having excellent water. Mountain lands 
are worth from $1 to $5 per - acre. Farms on the 
benches of the mountains sell for $10 to $15 per acre; 
in the valley, from $20 to $30 per acre. The principal 
towns and postoffices are Spencer, Cane Ridge, Rocky 
River, Cummingsville, Bone Ridge, Laurelburgh, 
Meade, Sopha, Sparkman, Sweetgum, and many others. 
This county has no railroad at present. The public 
school interest lags, by reason of the paucity of popu- 
lation, and to the further fact that Burritt College, at 
Spencer, furnishes excellent opportunities for educa- 
tion. 

WARREN COUNTY. 

Organized, 1807. County seat, McMinnville. Popula- 
tion in 1890, 14,413; whites, 12,391; colored, 2,022; per- 
centage of whites, 85.97. Area, 440 square miles, or 
281,600 acres; inhabitants to the square mile, 32.75; 
acres of improved land, 108,004; unimproved, 110,550. 



122 Middle Tennessee. 

Taxable property for 1897, $2,026,925; number of acres 
assessed, 250,587; valued at $1,309,290; value per acre, 
$5.22. Average elevation on grade of railroad, 950 feet; 
on the highest mountain, 1,910 feet. Excluding the 
portion on the Cumberland Table-land, the county may 
be said to be rolling highland, but sufficiently cut by 
streams, with tolerably deep valleys to give contrast 
and variety to the surface. The eastern portion is 
made rough by the spurs and outliers of the table- 
land, and supplies many mountain valleys, coves, and 
often wild, picturesque gorges, precipices, and water- 
falls. The southeastern part of the county lies on the 
Cumberland plateau, and has the elevation, soil, and 
physical features which pertain to that region. Three- 
fourths of Warren County consists of red lands simi- 
lar in character and fertility to those in Franklin 
County. The remainder of the land is mountainous, 
but some of the best lands are to be found in the 
coves. These soils are naturally very fertile, but 
slovenly cultivation has allowed great gulleys to wash 
down, by which the very cream of the soils has been 
in many places carried away. In many respects, these 
red soils are to be preferred to the soils of the Central 
Basin. They have a greater capacity for resisting 
drouth. They are more certain in the production of 
a fair average crop, whether the season be wet or dry. 
The subsoil also is very retentive of all fertilizing ma- 
terial that may be applied to the soil, and the subsoil 
is never leachy, as it sometimes is in the Central Basin. 
Clover is a great renovator of such soils, and it is 
used extensively for that purpose by the best farmers 
in the county. Some excellent soils are found in the 
coves of the mountains, where they are made friable 
and warm by a due admixture of sand. Upon such 
soils grasses grow with a rank luxuriance. The north 
sides of the mountain spurs are also very fertile. On 
the north side of Ben Lomond the principal trees are 
ash, yellow poplar, linden, buckeye, sugar tree, hick- 
ory, white oak, red oak, black walnut, wild cherry, and 
black locust, all indicative of a high degree of fertility 
in the soil. The timber on the southern face of the 
mountain is more scraggy in character, but a larger 
proportion of cedar is seen. Occasionally at the foot 
of the mountains is found a strip of land that is sterile. 
It may be recognized by fine, water-worn gravel, which 
has been liberated by the decay of the conglomerate 
rocks that cap the mountain. On such lands green 



Description of Counties — Warren. 123 

briers, persimmon, and sourwood prevail. Usually, 
however, the first bench is very fertile, being composed 
of the washings from the mountain limestones, inter- 
mingled with sand enough to ameliorate the stiffness 
of the clay. On the top of the mountain is a sand- 
stone soil, such as has already been described in the 
accounts given of Franklin County. The county is 
well watered by Collins River, Barren Fork, Charles 
Creek, Mountain Creek, Caney Fork, and others, and 
the water power is very valuable, much of which has 
been utilized in cotton and woolen manufacture. The 
census of 1890 reports the following crops: Indian 
corn, 662,038 bushels, grown on 33,195 acres; wheat, 
62,111 bushels, grown on 8,898 acres; oats, 97,681 bush- 
els, grown on 7,784 acres. One of the greatest and 
most profitable crops in this county is the apple crop. 
This fruit is grown more extensively in this count}' 
than in any other in the State. It is not an uncom- 
mon thing to see an orchard covering 50 to 100 acres, 
and a few are even larger than this. The best loca- 
tion for an orchard is said to be the upper bench on 
the mountain side, where the limestones and sand- 
stones meet. In such situations the fruit is never 
frosted nor liable to rot. Grapes are grown quite 
successfully. The county is a great producer of live 
stock. The census of 1890 shows: Horses, 3,529; mules, 
1,618; asses, 30; working oxen, 272; milch cows, 3,406; 
other cattle, 6,003; sheep, 7,561; value of live stock, 
$583,300. Coal is found in the southeastern part of the 
county, and one mine is open and in operation near 
Viola. The quality of coal is good, being quite hard. 
It is an excellent grate coal, but has never been em- 
ployed in the making of coke. There is a great range 
in the price of farming lands in Warren County. The 
fertile lands of the valleys, and of the mountain slopes, 
readily command from $25 to $35 per acre. Farms on 
the red soil region range in price from $10 to $30, ac- 
cording to improvements and location. Mountain 
lands are worth from $2 to $10 per acre. The towns 
and villages on the line of railroad are Smartt, Mc- 
Minnville, Rowland, Rock Island. Towns not on the 
line of road are Viola, Thaxton, Irving College, Ver- 
villa, Shellsford, Goodbars, Pine Bluff, Increase, Trous- 
dale, Davenport, Cross Roads, Horse Shoe Falls, Dib- 
rell, Leeds, Luckey, and many others. The McMinn- 
ville Branch of the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis 
Railway furnishes transportation. The publis schools 



124 Middle Tennessee. 

in Warren are fairly good in the towns and large vil- 
lages. The tax for that purpose is 30 cents on the $100 
worth of property. 

WAYNE COUNTY. 

Organized, 1817. County seat, Waynesboro. Popula- 
tion in 1890, 11,471; white, 10,600; colored, 871; percent- 
age of whites, 92.41. Area, 710 square miles, or 454,400 
acres; inhabitants to the square mile, 16.24; acres of 
improved land, 61,401; unimproved, 170,976. Taxable 
property for 1897, $1,137,770; number of acres assessed, 
473,767; valued at $799,563; value per acre, $1.66. Aver- 
age elevation, 950 feet; in the Tennessee River valley, 
350 feet. This county is situated on the extreme west- 
ern side of the Highland Rim, with its northwestern 
corner projecting into the western valley of the Ten- 
nessee. It is a high elevated plateau furrowed by 
deep, winding ravines or "hollows," with intervenient 
high rolling ridges cut transversely in places by other 
ravines, which give the surface of the county the ap- 
pearance of what sailors call a "chopped sea." The 
county is watered by the tributaries, directly or in- 
directly, of the Tennessee River, which washes a por- 
tion of the western boundary of the county, and fur- 
nishes the only outlet by water. The lands in Wayne 
County may be divided into three classes, viz.: Mineral, 
agricultural, and grazing. The soil upon these min- 
eral lands is well suited for tobacco, peanuts, and 
fruits. The agricultural lands are mostly confined to 
the river and creek bottoms. They are heavily 
charged with a black, flinty, angular rock. The soil is 
alluvial, and highly productive. The third class of 
land, which is put down as grazing land, is flat and 
open, covered during the summer with a rank, wild 
grass, which supplies nearly all the food for the stock 
(other than work stock) in the county for eight and 
ten months in the year. This land is worth from $2 
to $3 per acre. Wheat, corn, cotton, peanuts, sorghum, 
and hay grow well in this county. The census of 1890 
reports the following: Corn, 531,605 bushels, grown on 
25,365 acres; wheat, 16,256 bushels, grown on 2,482 
acres; cotton, 474 bales, grown on 2,356 acres; peanuts, 
15,325 bushels, grown on 449 acres; sorghum, 22,497 
gallons, grown on 382 acres. Very few counties in the 
State are more abundantly supplied with timber. The 
southern part is covered with a dense forest of yellow 
pine. On the ridges white oak, black oak, chestnut, 



Description of Counties — White. 125 

poplar, and chestnut oak prevail. The white oak tim- 
ber, near the river, is largely consumed in the manu- 
facture of pipe staves for the French and Spanish 
markets. The census of 1890 reports live stock as fol- 
lows: Horses, 2,179; mules, 1,877; asses, 62; working 
oxen, 663; milch cows, 3,085; other cattle, 5,339; sheep, 
10,440; value of live stock, $463,750. Good river and 
creek bottom lands are worth from $15 to $30 per acre; 
upland farms about half as much. Mineral and tim- 
bered lands range from $2 to $4 per acre. Hydraulic 
rock of an excellent quality occurs near Clifton in 
inexhaustible quantities. Iron ore (limonite) is abun- 
dant, and yields from the furnace about 44 per cent. 
There are not less than 30 square miles containing 
iron ore. Only one furnace is in operation. The only 
town on the line of road is Mannie. Others not on the 
line are Cypress Inn, Pleasant Valley, Weatherford, 
Martin's Mills, Waynesborough (county seat), Sorby, 
Flat Woods, Clifton, Stout, and many others. Nash- 
ville & Florence Division of the Louisville & Nashville 
Railroad, and the Centreville Branch of the Nashville, 
Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway furnish a small 
amount of railwajr transportation. The Tennessee 
River supplies water transportation. Clifton is the 
only shipping point on the river. The public schools 
of W 7 ayne County are not what they should be. The 
tax levied for their support is only 15 cents on the $100 
worth of property. 

Note.— It may be said of Wayne County that its 
resources of iron and timber are probably greater than 
in any other county in the State. Immigrants will 
also find farming lands very cheap, and lands well 
adapted to the growth of a fine quality of tobacco and 
fruits cheaper than in any other section of the State. 

WHITE COUNTY. 

Organized, 1806. County seat, Sparta. Population, 
12,348; white, 11,513; colored, 835; percentage of white, 
93.24. Area, 490 square miles, or 314,600 acres; inhabit- 
ants to the square mile, 23.53; acres of improved land, 
90,016; unimproved, 86,565. Taxable property for 1897* 
$1,397,832; number of acres assessed, 238,787; valued at 
$1,143,194; value per acre, $4.78. Average elevation on 
grade of railroad, 927 feet in the western part of the 
county, and 1,800 feet in the eastern. Bon Air station 
6 



126 



Middle Tennessee. 



reaches an elevation of 1,625 feet on grade. In its 
topographical features the county is divided into three 
parts: the table-land or mountain, the valleys and 
coves, and the barrens. These three divisions give 
great diversity of elevation, soils, and productions. 
The eastern side of the county, comprising about one- 
fifth of its area, lies on the Cumberland Table-land, 
and has all the characteristics of this natural division 
of the State. At about half the height of the table- 
land is the terrace, or "bench." This terrace has the 
same elevation as the tables or tops of most of the 




EXHIBIT OF BON AIR COAL, BON AIR, N., C. & ST. L. R'Y. 



little mountains or outliers. It affords sites for some 
beautiful farms and orchards, where all varieties of 
fruit common to the country are produced. The Calf 
Killer valley occupies a belt across the county, and is 
twenty-five miles long, with an average breadth of four 
miles. The surface is generally rolling*, and there are 
no bottoms along the river. An interesting topograph- 
ical feature is presented by the sink holes, which are 
very numerous in this valley. Other valleys furnish 
fine farming lands. Sugar maple, beech, ash, walnut, 
buckeye, linden, wild cherry, and immense yellow 



Description ok ©ousties — White. L27 

poplars are abundant in the forests. In the valleys, 
the soil is generally good, being a dark brown loam, 
on a subsoil of strong clay. In the barrens the lands 
are level and thin. Caney Fork and Calf Killer are 
the principal streams. The water privileges of the 
county are abundant and very superior. The falls of 
Caney Fork supply over 8,000 horse power within a 
stretch of two miles. The census of 1890 reports the 
following crops: Indian corn, 586,178 bushels, grown 
on 29,516 acres; wheat, 39,636 bushels, grown on 6,367 
acres; oats, 83,506 bushels, grown on 8,090 acres. Poul- 
try and eggs form no inconsiderable quantity of the 
shipments made from the county. Statistics from the 
census of 1890 shows the following: Horses, 3,134; 
mules, 1,179; asses, 23; working oxen, 300; milch cows, 
2,768; other cattle, 6,576; sheep, 5,324; value of live 
stock, $479,660. The best farms in White County are 
held at prices ranging from $20 to $40 per acre. Good 
upland farms, somewhat broken, may be bought for 
$15 per acre. Mountain lands and mountain farms at 
$3 to $6 per acre. Coal is abundant. Bon Air Coal 
Mines supply excellent coal, for which there is a good 
demand. (See coal statistics in this pamphlet.) There 
are beautiful building stones, and large flagging 
stones. The thriving towns and villages on this line 
of road are: Walling, Holder, Doyle, Moores, Sparta, 
East Sparta, Price, Hock House, and Bon Air. Those 
not on the line — Camp Ground, Darkey Springs, Cass- 
ville, Fancher's Mills, Amanda, Cherry Creek, Baker's 
Cross Boads, Shingle, Newark, Dodson, Perilla, Solon, 
and others. The McMinnville Branch of the Nashville, 
Chattanooga & St. Louis Bail way furnishes transpor- 
tation. The public school interests in White County 
are keeping pace with its progress. The tax levied for 
this purpose is 40 cents on the $100, which is surpassed 
only by those of Anderson, Cumberland, Weakley, and 
Gibson counties in the entire State. White County 
offers many advantages to immigrant farmers in soils, 
crops, markets, and in the cheapness of lands; to 
cotton manufacturers, in the abundance and cheap- 
ness of water powers, coal, and timber; to the pomol- 
ogist, in the adaptability of the soils and situation for 
the growing of fruits; to the apiarist, in the health- 
fulness of the bees, and in the large quantities of 
honey they produce. The same may be said of War- 
ren, Coffee, and Franklin counties. 



128 Middle Tennessee. 

WILSON COUNTY. 

Organized, 1799. Comity seat, Lebanon. Popula- 
tion in 1890, 27,148; white, 19,798; colored, 7,350; per- 
centage of white, 72.93. Area, 536 square miles, or 
343,040 acres; inhabitants to the square mile, 50.65; 
acres of improved land, 199,045; unimproved, 145,267. 
Taxable property for 1897, $4,450,930; number of acres 
assessed, 355,02.3; valued at $3,530,240; value per acre, 
$9.94. Elevation above the sea> taking grade of rail- 
road, 544 feet. This county ranks among the first in 
the Central Basin. The lands are based almost wholly 
on limestone. The county has the Cumberland River 
on its northern side. The surface, summarily, outside 
of the valleys, of which there is a good supply, may be 
said to be rolling, with high hills and ridges frequently 
in the eastern part. There is very little waste land. 
With the exception of a few cedar glades, and some 
rocky points, all can be cultivated. The soil of the 
county, excepting those of the alluvial bottoms, and a 
dark cedar soil sometimes met with, is mulatto colored, 
warm and rather sandy. The crops in the order of 
their importance are corn, wheat, oats, hay and barley. 
The census of 1890 reports the following: Indian corn, 
1,780,547 bushels, grown on 62,659 acres; wheat, 313,290 
bushels, grown on 33,250 acres; oats, 249,906 bushels, 
grown on 14,690 acres; tobacco, 74,011 pounds, grown 
on 118 acres; hay, 21,588 tons, grown on 14,190 acres; 
cotton, 82 bales, grown on 459 acres; barley, 4,412 bush- 
els, grown on 278 acres. This county stands third in 
the State in the production of Indian corn; fifth in the 
production of wheat, and in the number of acres of 
improved lands. Stock raising is largely engaged in 
by the farmers. The census of 1890 reports live stock 
as follows: Horses, 10,472; mules, 6,162; asses, 639; 
working oxen, 66; milch cows, 7,274; other cattle, 
12,326; sheep, 17,239; value of live stock, $1,769,150. 
The timber of the county is very valuable. Oak, ash, 
and hickory timber, besides large forests of cedar give 
great value to the forest products. Good farms are 
worth from $25 to $40 per acre. Hilly farms from $10 
to $20 per acre. There are no minerals of importance 
in the county with the exception of good building 
stone. That is found quite plentifully among the lay- 
ers of the Silurian rocks. Some mineral springs exist, 
one of which, called Horn Spring, has a considerable 
reputation for its curative properties. The principal 



Description r of Counties — Wilson. 



129 



towns and villages on the Lebanon Branch are Green 
Hill, Mt. Juliet, Silver Springs, Leeville, Lebanon, and 
Tucker's Gap. Spring Creek, Shop Spring, Cherry 
Valley, Watertown, and Catamount are on the Nash- 
ville & Knoxville Eailroad. Other towns not on the 
railroads are Cainsville, Cottage Home, Round Top, 
Greenvale, Statesville, McCulloch, Simmons Bluff, Hen- 
derson's Cross Roads, Oak Point, Baird's Mills, Vesta, 
Partlow, Rural Hill, Dodoburgh, Linwood, Commerce, 
Bellwood, Austin, Caruthers, Lockport, Silver Spring, 
and many others. The Lebanon Branch of the Nash- 
ville,, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway, and the Nash- 
ville & Knoxville Railroad furnish transportation. 
Cumberland University, located at Lebanon, has been 
noted for more than a half century for the excellence 
of its law department. It has educated more lawyers 
than any other institution in the South, and is justly 
entitled to take the first rank in this particular. Pub- 
lic schools do fairly well in the thickly settled dis- 
tricts, but the average school terms amount to only 
80 days in the year. The tax levied for the support of 
public schools is 30 cents on the $100. 




FURNACE AT SOUTH PITTSBURG 



RELATIVE RANKOFTHE DIFFERENT COUN 

TIES IN THE STATE AS TO FARM 

PRODUCTS AND STOCK. 



(Census of 1890.) 



Maury, first in corn bushels 

Rutherford, second in corn bushels 

Wilson, third in corn bushels 

Williamson, first in wheat bushels 

Bedford, second in wheat bushels 

Obion, third in wheat bushels 

Maury, first in oats bushels 

Knox, second in oats bushels 

Wilson, third in oats bushels 

Bedford, first in rye bushels 

Maury, second in rye bushels 

Marshall, third in rye bushels 

Davidson, first in barley bushels 

Maury, second in barley bushels 

Sumner, third in barley bushels 

Carter, first in buckwheat bushels 

Sullivan, second in buckwheat ...bushels 
Washington, third in buckwheat. bushels 

Shelby, first in cotton bales 

Fayette, second in cotton bales 

Tipton, third in cotton bales 

Montgomery, first in tobacco pounds 

Robertson, second in tobacco ....pounds 

Weakley, third in tobacco pounds 

Perry, first in peanuts bushels 

Humphreys, second in peanuts ...bushels 

Benton, third in peanuts bushels 

Davidson, first in Irish potatoes, .bushels 
Maury, second in Irish potatoes, .bushels 
Sumner, third in Irish potatoes, .bushels 
Davidson, first in sweet potatoes, .bushels 
Shelby, second in sweet potatoes, .bushels 

Knox, third in sweet potatoes bushels 

Wilson, first in wool pounds 

Sumner, second in wool pounds 

Bedford, third in wool pounds 

Davidson, first in hay tons 

Maury, second in hay tons 



2,363,414 

1,925,083 

1,780,547 

527,615 

489,007 

465,055 

279,068 

273,172 

249,906 

15,950 

9,185 

9,150 

27,943 

4,836 

4,677 

1,526 

708 

642 

35,666 

21,117 

17,635 

9,351,200 

8,605,730 

4,444,230 

182,801 

127,958 

91,090 

309,444 

225,618 

150,889 

125,015 

87,525 

44,988 

55,793 

48,837 

46,156 

31,690 

28,065 



Farm Products and Stuck. 131 

Wilson, third in hay tons, 21,588 

Williamson, first in grass seed. .. .bushels, 57,176 
Rutherford, second in grass seed. bushels, 13,285 

Maury, third in grass seed bushels, 9,364 

Gibson, first in butter pounds, 751,883 

Davidson, second in butter pounds, 749,356 

Rutherford, third in butter pounds, 709,992 

Knox, first in cheese pounds, 7,589 

Sullivan, second in cheese pounds, 7,541 

Johnson, third in cheese pounds, 5,370 

Davidson, first in milk gallons, 3,082,582 

Knox, second in milk gallons, 2,673,630 

Shelby, third in milk gallons, 2,559,472 

Hardeman, first in cow peas bushels, 10,273 

Fayette, second in cow peas bushels, 6,279 

Madison, third in cow peas bushels, 5,106 

Sullivan, first in beans bushels, 1,581 

Hawkins, second in beans bushels, 1,435 

Union, third in beans bushels, 1,426 

Johnson, first' in maple sugar pounds, 865 

Overton, second in maple sugar. . .pounds, 856 

Hamblen, third in maple sugar. . .pounds, 841 

Maury, first in sorghum gallons, 93,944 

Oiles, second in sorghum gallons, 93,585 

Rutherford, third in sorghum gallons, 87,518 

Maury, first in honey pounds, 74,875 

Tipton, second in honey pounds, 43,776 

Greene, third in honey pounds, 42,834 

Tipton, first in value of orchard products. $ 109,880 
Monroe, second in value of orchard products 109,755 
Davidson, third in value of orchard products$95,597 

Maury, first in value of live stock $2,336,700 

Wilson, second in value of live stock $1,769450 

Rutherford, third in value of live stock. .. $1,680^420 

Wilson, first in sheep 17 239 

Sumner, second in sheep 15620 

Bedford, third in sheep ....'. 14^26 

Maury, first in swine 50957 

Wilson, second in swine 49420 

Rutherford, third in swine ... 473OO 

Wilson, first in dozens of eggs dozen, 839^922 

Rutherford, second in dozens of eggs. dozen, 669 744 
AVeakley, third in dozens of eggs. . .dozen, 546077 

Rutherford, first in horses lo'516 

Wilson, second in horses 10472 

Maury, third in horses 9 ' 567 

Maury, first in mules " 10 ' 345 



132 



Middle Tennessee. 



Shelby, second in mules .". . 6,444 

Lincoln, third in mules 6,046 

Wilson, first in asses 539 

Rutherford, second in asses 485 

Maury, third in asses 477 

Jackson, first in working oxen 1,296 

Hardin, second in working oxen 1,294 

McNairy, third in working oxen 1,134 

Davidson, first in milch cows 8,545 

Giles, second in milch cows 7,651 

Gibson, third in milch cows 7,521 




FACTORY SCENE AT McMINNVILLE. 



DISTANCE FROM NASHVILLE AND ELEVA- 
TIONS ABOVE THE SEA OF THE 
PRINCIPAL POINTS IN MID- 
DLE TENNESSEE. 



PLACES ON THE MAIN LINE OF THE NASHVILLE, 
CHATTANOOGA & ST. LOUIS KAILWAY. 



Miles from Elevation above 
Nashville. sea level, feet. 

Nashville, at depot 435 

Glencliff 4.9 462 

Asvlum 7.7 505 

Antioch 9.8 513 

Mt. View 12.2 570 

Kimbro . . .' 13.7 607 

Lavergne 15.8 564 

Smyrna 20.2 520 

Wade 22 548 

Florence Station 25.5 544 

Russell , 28 550 

Murfreesboro 31.6 583 

Winstead 36.2 617 

Rucker 38.3 665 

Christiana 41.4 696 

Fosterville 45.3 842 

Bellbuckle 50.5 856 

Wartrace 54.9 830 

Haley 57.9 843 

Cortner 60.5 817 

Normandy 62.1 834 

Tullahoma 69 1,070 

Estill Springs 76.8 937 

Decherd 81.9 965 

Cowan 86.9 973 

Sherwood 96 700 

Anderson 101.1 680 

Bass 106.3 666 

Stevenson 112.4 646 

Bolivar 117.5 646 

Bridgeport 122 660 

Shellmound 129.4 636 

Ladds 133.1 717 



134 Middle Tennessee. 

Miles from Elevation above 
Nashville. sea level, feet. 

Whiteside • 136.9 868 

Etna Mines 138 921 

Hooker 141.2 863 

Wauhatchie 145.1 691 

Lookout 147.2 676 

Cravens 149.5 676 

Chattanooga 151.1 (el. at U. D.) 681 



LEBANON BRANCH OF THE NASHVILLE, CHATTA- 
NOOGA & ST. LOUIS RAILWAY. 



Miles from Elevation above 
Nashville. sea level, feet. 

Easton 3.5 512 

Mill Creek 5 409 

Mud Tavern 7 410 

Donelson 8.1 515 

Hermitage 11.2 442 

Green Hill 15.6 484 

Mt. Juliet 17.6 530 

Silver Springs 21.5 515 

Leeville 23.6 560 

Tucker's Gap 25.8 653 

Lebanon 30.9 522 



McMINNVILLE, SPARTA & BON AIR DIVISION OP 

THE NASHVILLE, CHATTANOOGA & ST. 

LOUIS RAILWAY. 



Miles from Elevation above 
Nashville. sea level, feet. 

Tullahoma 69 1,070 

Hickerson 74.3 1,013 

Belmont 77.3 1,047 

Manchester 80.7 1,035 

Wayside 85.8 1,115 

Summitville 88.2 1,117 

Morrison 93.3 1,076 

Smartts 98.5 1,014 



Elevations Above the Sea. 135 

Miles from Elevation above 
Nashville. sea level, feet. 

McMinnville 103.2 905 

Rowland 110.4 976 

*Rock Island 115.4 886 

Walling 117 909 

Holder 118.9 906 

Ward's Station 120 942 

Doyle 12iy 2 964 

Moore's 127 957 

Sparta 129.5 920 

East Sparta 129.5 987 

Price 133.2 1,238 

Rock House 134.8 1,297 

Bon Air 138.3 (at depot) . 1,625 

Bon Air 138.3 (the town) 1,800 

Note. — The falls of Caney Fork is a short distance 
/ below Rock Island- This is the finest water power in 
Middle Tennessee. The following" elevations are taken 
from Safford's report: 

Foot of falls 662 feet. 

Top of falls 756 feet. 

Average of country back from stream 900 feet. 



SHELBYVILLE BRANCH OF THE NASHVILLE, 
CHATTANOOGA & ST. LOUIS RAILWAY. 



Miles from Elevation above 
Nashville. sea level, feet. 
Shelbvville 62.9 771 



TRACY CITY AND SEWANEE BRANCH OF THE 

NASHVILLE, CHATTANOOGA & ST. LOUIS 

RAILWAY. 

Miles from Elevation above 
Nashville. sea level, feet. 

Sewanee 95.2 1,864 

Monteagle 101 1,928 . 

Tracy City 107 1,985 



136 Middle Tennessee. 

SEQUATCHIE VALLEY DIVISION OF THE NASH- 
VILLE, CHATTANOOGA & ST. LOUIS KATLWAY. 



Miles from Elevation above 
Nashville. sea level, feet. 

Copenhagen 125.3 634 

South Pittsburg- 127 639 

Kimball 130.2 626 

Jasper 134.2 626 

Sequatchie 138 638 

Victoria 141.4 682 

Whitwell 145 662.5 

Shirleyton 148.2 667.5 

Condra 150.8 684 

Daus 154.7 721 

Dunlap .: 159.4 726 

Mt. Airy 164.7 756 

Pailo 167.3 761 

College 170.7 809 

Lee 174.3 852 

Pikeville 179.3 875 



INMAN BRANCH OP THE NASHVILLE, CHATTA- 
NOOGA & ST. LOUIS RAILWAY. 



Miles from Elevation above 
Nashville. sea level, feet. 
I nman 146.3 674 

Near the head of Sequatchie valley, above Pikeville, 
occurs one of the highest points in Middle Tennessee. 
It is called Hinch Mountain, which is 3,000 feet high. 
This mountain lies between Grassy Cove on- the north, 
and Sequatchie valley on the south. There are many 
points on Crab Orchard Mountain that have an eleva- 
tion of 3,000 feet. Crossville, the county seat of Cum- 
berland County, is 1,927 feet above the sea, and 
Pomona, near that place, celebrated for its fine apples, 
has an elevation of 1,963 feet. The highest point on 
the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway is at 
Gibson's Switch, on the Tracy City Branch, which is 
1,949 feet above the sea. 



Elevations Above the Sea, 



i:r 



PAYETTEV1LLE & COLUMBIA DIVISION OF THE 

NASHVILLE, CHATTANOOGA & ST. LOUIS 

EAILWAY. 



Miles from 
Nashville. 

Winchester 85 . 

Kasserman 89 . 

Belvidere 90.9. 

Maxwell 93.9 . 

Beans Creek 96.3 . 

Huntland 97.8. 

Elora 103.5. 

Flintville 108.5. 

Brighton 110.1. 

Kelso 113.8. 

Fayetteville 120.7 . 



Elevation above 
sea level, feet. 



945 
1,005 
947 
905 
865 
922 
909 
884 
, 905 
718 
656 



FROM FAYETTEVILLE TO COLUMBIA. 



Miles from Elevation above 
Columbia. sea level, feet. 

Howell 37.3 732 

Petersburg 34.3 727 

Belfast 25.2 814 

Lewisburg 19.5 727 

South Berlin 15 775 

Silver Creek 12.9 702 

Bryant Station 11.5 671 

Parks 9.7 650 

Hills 7.1 600 

Columbia 644 



NORTHWESTERN DIVISION OF THE NASHVILLE, 
CHATTANOOGA & ST. LOUIS RAILWAY. 



Harding 

Yaughan's Gap 

Belleview 

Newsom 



Miles from 

Nashville. 

6.5. 



12.3. 
16 . 



Elevation above 
sea level, feet. 

480 

680 

592 

537 



138 



Middle Tennessee. 



Miles from 
Nashville. 



Elevation above 
sea level, feet. 



Peg-ram 19.7 533 

Kingston Springs 24 505 

Craggie Hope 26 578 

White Bluff 30 819 

Burns 37 810 

Colesburg 39 862 

Dickson 41.5 791 

Pond 44.3 895 

Tennessee City 49.6 822 

McEwen 56.9 837 

Briggs 59.9 672 

Gorman 61.5 627 

VVa verly 66.5 525 

Box 74.8 380 

Johnsonville 77.4 368 

*Low water at Johnsonville, U. S. data 322 

*High water at Johnsonville, U. S. data . . . 370.8 

Eva 80 362 

Camden 86 444 

Lipe 90.3 452 

Hollow Rock 96.2 435 

Rosser 100.8 484 

Huntingdon 105 424 

Hico 112 399 

McKenzie 116.7 470 

Gleason 124.5 407 

Dresden 131.9 426 

Ralston 138 429 

Martin 141 414 

Gardner 143.9 337 

Shoffner 149.5 311 

Terrell 147 311 

Paducah Junction 150 330 

Union City 153.9 338 

Woodland Mills 159.6 360 

State Line 161.1 387 

Hickman (on grade of railroad). 167.5 306 

Hickman (of the hills) 600 



*The railroad survey gives low water at Johnson- 
ville, 319.2; high water in 1892, 368.0. March 28, 1897, 
the water in Tennessee River rose ten inches higher 
than ever before known. 



Elevations Above the Sea. 



139 



THE CENTREVILLE & ALLEN'S CREEK DIVISION 

OF THE NASHVILLE, CHATTANOOGA & 

ST. LOUIS RAILWAY. 



Miles from 
Nashville. 

Pomona 46.3 . 

Tidwell 48 . 

Iron Hill 49.8. 



Elevation above 
sea level, feet. 
875 



Abiff 52 

Bon Aqua 52.6 

Lyle 56.1 

Cantrell 59.1 

Rodemer 61.4 

Graham 65 

N unnelly 66.9 

Goodrich 68.4 

Grinders 72.3 

Centreville . . . . > 75.2 (at depot). 

Centreville 75.2 (town proper) 

Etna 84.7 

Lewis, or Kimmins 87.9 

Hohenwald 94.2 

Nancy 101.7 

Riverside 103.3 

Mannie 3 05.1 



883 
835 
902 
840 
870 
848 
791 
565 
688 
544 
758 
501 
801 
697 
95s 
96S 
692 
653 
682 



ELEVATIONS ON THE ST. LOUIS & SOUTHEASTERN 
ROADS FROM NASHVILLE TO GUTHRIE. 
(Taken from SafforcTs Geology.) 

Miles. Feet. 

Nashville, at depot 0.0 435 (grade) N., C. * St. L. Rv. 

Nashville, low water of Cunib. R 365 " 

Nashville, high water of Cumb. R. ... 422 " 

Kdgefield depot 0.5 428 " L. A N. R. R. 

Summit 4 562 

Dry Creek 9.5 406 (bottom) • " 

Edgefield Junction... 9.5 438 (grade) St. L. & S. E. R. R. 

Summit 11.3 517 

Goodlettsville 12.5 457 

Mansker's Creek 13.5 441 (surface) 

Mansker's Creek 14.6 468 

Foot of "Rides" 17 563 

Summit of "Ridge" 18.5 895 

Summit of "Ridge"... 18.6 877 (tirade) 

Point 22 822 

Point 25.3 748 

Springfield 29 659 

Sulphur Fork 30.5 570 



140 



Middle Tennessee. 



Miles. Feet. 

Sulphur Fork 30.5 512 (surface) St. 

Point. 32 672 (grade) 

Point.. 36 681 

Red River 41.5 484 

Red River 41.5 ■ 399 (bottom) 

Point 45.5 592 (grade) 

Guthrie. Kv ..46.7 554 



L. & 



S. E. R.R. 



ELEVATIONS ON THE LOUISVILLE & NASHVILLE 
RAILROAD. 

(From Safford's Geology.) 
Miles from 
Nashville. Feet. 



Edgefield Junction 9.5 438 (grade) 

Mansker's Creek 11.5 389 (bottom) 

Summit.. 13 528 (surface) 

Drake's Creek 15.5 449 

Summit 18 593 

W. Station, Camp Creek 20.5 445 

Station, Camp Creek .. 23.5 441 " 

Gallatin 26 528 

Summit 27 573 " 

E. Station, Camp Creek 27.7 503 " 

Point about foot of "Ridge" ... 30.7 694 

Margin of Highlands 31.7 951 

Summitof grade at end of tunnel 32.3 833 (about) 

Valley, Drake's Creek 33.4 800 (surface) 

W. Fork, Drake's Creek. 36.5 708 

Summit 39 853 

State Line 45 755 



L. & N 



. R. R. 



Miles. Feet. 
Nashville, Old Terminus Cherrv 

Street 1 469 

Browns Creek 2.5 475 

Overton's Gap 6 621 

Atkinson's Gap 9 737 

Little Harpeth River 11.5 649 

Little Harpeth River. 11.5 668 

Summit 13.5 763 

Harpeth River 18.3 602 

Franklin Depot 18.6 642 

Summit 23 759 

West Harpeth River. 25 682 

Summit (Duck River Bridge) 29 841 

Spring Hill Station 31.5 770 

Miles. Feet. 

Carter's Creek 35 621 

Duck River..' 42.5 528 

Duck River, High Water 42.5 571 

Columbia 657 

Summit ...46 709 

Lick Creek ...47.5 626 

Summit 49.5 707 

K. Branch of Bigby ..53 602 

Mt. PleasantSugar Fork of Bigby. 54 6i5 

Bigby Creek 58 660 

Foot of Ridge 59.5 702 

Top of Ridge, commencement of 

Highlands ...65 1.019 



(grade) 



& N. R. R. 



(bottom) 
(grade) 

(bottom) 
(grade) 

(bottom) 
(grade) 



(bottom) R. R. Survey 



(surface) 



Elevations Above the Sea. 



141 



From Columbia to Tennessee and Alabama Line. 



Miles. 

Columbia Depot ... 

Point - ... --- 1.6 

Lytle's Creek 8.5 

Point ..3.5 

Po'nt --.6 

Point .-8.5 

Pleasant Grove 9.8 

Adam's Fork 12.7 

Elk Ridge. Dodson's Gap 15.8 

Elk Ridge, Dodson's Gap 15.8 

Robertson's Fork 18.5 

Richland Creek 26.5 

Pulaski .33.5 

Richland-Creek 39.5 

Ri'di la nd Creek 39.5 

Madry Hill 42.5 

Madrv Hill Tunnel ...42.5 

Elk River .....46.5 

Elk River ....46.5 

Tennessee and Alabama Line 47.8 



Feet 




657 


(grade) L 


696 


(surface) 


624 


" 


710 




624 




766 




739 


(grade) 


693 


(surface) 


937 




898 


(grade) 


716 


(surface) 


691 


(grade) 


648 




630 




593 


(surface) 


924 


(top) 
(grade) 


736 


598 




553 


(surface) 


654.? 


'• 



A N 



K. K. 




A TENNESSEE BOY. 



INVITATION TO THRIFTY FARMERS WITH 
SOME MONEY. 



To one who has carefully read this pamphlet it is 
hardly necessary to say that it describes a region 
which has not its superior, naturally, in the United 
States. The industrious homeseeker with some money 
is invited to come to it. Here he may purchase a home 
with a small outlay. Here he may grow all the agri- 
cultural products of the temperate zone, except some 
tropical fruits. Here he may enjoy the most pleasant 
climate in America, where the cold is rarely severe, 
and the heat of summer is tempered by most delight- 
ful breezes. The heat never reaches as high a point 
as it does in the Northwestern States. Here the win- 
ters are short; the growing season long; the number 
of the crops greater than in any other State; the sup- 
ply of good water unlimited; the climate exceedingly 
healthful; the markets convenient, and the prices paid 
to farmers for all the leading products of agriculture 
greater than are paid to the farmers of the North 
Central States. The beauties and attractions of Middle 
Tennessee cannot be "distilled into expression by 
words, nor painted upon the widest canvas." Nor can 
all its advantages as a home be pointed out. One must 
feel the inspiration of- its sweet air; look upon its 
glorious landscapes; cultivate its fertile and versatile 
soils; drink from its bubbling fountains; enjoy the 
shade of its magnificent trees; watch the majestic flow 
of its imperial rivers; be regaled by the wealth of its 
flowers transcendant in their beauty, and unmatched 
in their fragrance; walk through the lordly forests; 
taste of the luscious fruits and melons; partake of its 
hospitable society; and enjoy the health-inspiring 



Invitation to Farmers. ' 143 

breezes before he can appreciate the advantages, the 
comforts, and the blessings of Middle Tennessee. 

All the charms, advantages, adaptabilities, and capa- 
bilities of every land are shared to a greater or less 
extent by the citizens of that region traversed by the 
Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway. Whatever 
quality of soil one may wish to cultivate, he will be 
able to find it on this line. Whatever crop he may 
wish to cultivate, suited to the latitude, may be suc- 
cessfully grown. Whatever elevation, up to 2,000 feet 
above the sea, in which he may wish to make his home, 
he will be able to find it. He may grow grain and 
grasses, fruits and flowers, tobacco and peanuts, hemp 
and flax, sorghum and potatoes. He may engage in 
the breeding of stock, in truck farming, lumbering, 
dairying, mining, manufacturing, poultry raising, bee 
culture, and many other industries well suited to the 
intelligent and enterprising immigrant. There have 
been fully 1,000 northern families that have settled 
in Middle Tennessee within the past five years. They 
are satisfied with the homes, and are thrifty and 
healthy. Taxes are verj^ low, being 30 cents on the 
$100 for State purposes, and from one and a half to 
two times as much in the aggregate for county, school, 
and road taxes. Lands are assessed from one-third to 
two-thirds their value. Write for further informa- 
tion about special localities to the following agents: 

MIDDLE TENNESSEE. 

Al. L. Scott, Dickson, Tenn.; J. A. Cunningham, Kim- 
mins, Tenn.; Dr. S. D. Thatch, Decherd, Tenn.; Omer 
E. Foust, Decherd; E. A. Best, Decherd, Tenn.; J. C. 
Winton, Manchester; B. R. Thomas, Waverly, Tenn.; 
H. Nixon, Centreville, Tenn.; F. W. McClure, Murfrees- 
boro, Tenn.; J. R. Tubb, Sparta; J. C. Aiken, Shelby- 
ville, Tenn.; J. L. Girton, Winchester; W. A. Johnson, 
McMinnville, Tenn.; C. H. Smith, Pomona, Tenn.; Fay- 
etteville Real Estate Co., Fayetteville, Tenn.; T. P. 



144 Middle Tennessee. 

Ay res (Timber and Colonization), Nashville, Tenn.; 
Jas. G Aydelott, Tullahoma, Tenn.; Smith Bros., Mc- 
Minnville, Tenn. 

WEST TENNESSEE. 

Cave J. Crockett, Union City, Tenn.; James I. Jack- 
son, Mclvenzie, Tenn.; E. H. Goen, Martin, Tenn.; D. 
G. Hudson, Camden, Tenn.; A. J. Rooks, Somerville, 
Tenn. 

EAST TENNESSEE. 

A. W. Sidebottom and W. R. Crabtree, Chattanooga, 
Tenn.; Thos. H. Hill, Sequachee; W. A. Brame, Victoria; 
W. L. Melcher. Sequachee. 

Agents for Northern Alabama are: E. J. Winwright, 
Hnntsville, Ala.; E. 0. Neely, Guntersville, Ala.; and 
W. G. Brockway, Gadsden, Ala. 



A WORD AS TO THE OBJECTS TO BE 
ATTAINED. 



The Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway has 
no lands for sale to immigrants, nor has any of its 
employes, but it will do all in its power to protect im- 
migrants from being imposed upon either in the quali- 
ties of the land offered, or in the prices asked. The 
object iii employing an immigrant and industrial agent 
is that he may give such truthful information to home- 
seekers about the country as to attract them to it, and 
thus induce a healthful development all along its line. 
All manufacturing enterprises, such as cotton, wool, 
fertilizers, iron, furniture, agricultural implements. 
tobacco, and many others for which there is raw ma- 
terial, will be given every encouragement by the man- 
agement of the railroad. For general and special in- 
formation relating to manufacturing, mining, and ag- 
ricultural industries, write to the general immigration 
and industrial agent, 

J. B. KILLEBREW, 

Nashville, Tenn. 



INDEX. 



Acres assessed for taxation 6 

.Etna Furnace 98 

Agricultural products and statistics of ..25, 130 

Alum. 74,88 

Apples (varieties)... 35-37 

Aydelott, Jas. G - -19. 75 

Bark Camp Fork 14, 74 

Barley., ...- 28 

Barrens 91 

Barren Fork :..64, 65 

Barren Group 9 

Bedford County (description of) 67 

Beersheba 96 

Belle Meade - 39 

Belvidere 46 

Belvidere (cut)... 93 

Ben Lomond 122 

Big Bottom 99 

Bon Air Exhibit (cut).'. 126 

Bosley Stone 83 

Breeding Establishments 81 

Brown's Bank, Coal 77 

Buckwheat 28 

Buffalo River 13, 113 

Buffalo Valley 19 

Calf Killer 14, 16 

Caney Fork 13, 61 

Caney Fork Falls ....14, 59 

Cannon County (description of) 69 

Cascade Springs 94 

Cattle 42 

Cattle (Jersey) 42 

Cedar Timber 106. 107 

Centennial Exposition 85 

Central Basin 8 

Cemetery (National) __.85, 118 

Charles Creek P4 

Cheatham County (description of).. 70 

Climate .* 14 

Clover Hay 30 

Clover Seed 35 

Coal and Coke (statistics of) 49 

Coal (Cumberland County) 77 

Coal (Franklin Countv) 92 

Coal (Grundy County) 96 

Coal (Putnam County) 116 

Coal (Warren County) 123 

Coal (White Countv)... 127 

Conl (VanBuren County) 121 

Coffee County (description of) 73 

Colleges in Nashville... 82 

Collins River 64 

Copperas 74,88 

Corn 25 

*By "description" is meant organization, county seat, population, 
area, taxable property, elevation above sea, topography, streams, miner- 
als, crops, fruits, towns, schools, etc. 



14<) Index. 

Cotton .*....*..,*. ...,,. .* 31 

Counties (description of) 67 

Counties (relative rank of) . 130 

Cumberland County (description of) - 76 

Cumberland Furnace - 89 

Cumberland River — 12 

Cumberland Tableland 8 

Cumberland University 129 

Dairy Husbandry - 44 

Dairy Husbandly (statistics of) 44 

Davidson Country (description of) -. 78 

Davidson County (soils of) 78 

DeKalb County (description of) 86 

Dickson Count}' (description of) 88 

Distances from Nashville - 133 et seq. 

Dolomite 10 

Duck River 13 

Duck River Valley 99 

Eastbrook Springs -. 94 

Elevations above the sea 133 et seq. 

Elk River 13, 14 

Estill Springs 94 

Ewell Farm 40 

Exhibit of Ores (cut) 50 

Factory Scene (cut) - -- 132 

Falling Water 64 

Farms (number of) - 7 

Farms on the Mountain - 96 

Farmer's Home (cut) 24 

Federal Cemetery 85. 118 

Flouring Mill (cut) 91 

Forest Growth 22 

Franklin County (description of) -90 

Fruits -- 35 

Fruits (soil for) - -- 19 

Furnaces (statistics of) 48 

Furnaces, South Pittsburg (cut) 129 

Furnaces (Wavne County) 125 

Garrison Fork'. -- 14,74 

Geological Formations. 9 

Goodrich Furnace --- --• 98 

Grasses Grown -- 38 

Gruetli -- 96 

Grundy County (description of) 94 

Harding, W. G - - - -- 39 

Harepth River - J3 

Harpeth (narrows of— cut) J> 

Hay and Hay Grasses 30 

Healthful ness --- *£ 

Hematite (brown) - - 4< 

Herd's Grass - 30 

Hermitage - - 85 

Hickman County (description of) - - --- 97 

Hicks Cattle Farm (cut) - 41 

Highland Rim - 8 

Hogs.... -- - f 

Horn Springs -- "« S 

Horses.. - - ' rL 

Humphreys County (description of 98 

Hungarian Grass - -- 31 

Hurricane Springs y 4 

Implements (value of) - * 

Improved Lands - --- ' 

Introductory - «J 

Invitation to Farmers .- co 

Iron Ores - -- 4 ' • Hy 



Index. 147 

Iron Ores (Wayne County) __ 125 

Iron Ores (statistics of) 48 

Iron. Pig (statistics ol) 48 

Isothermal Lines A 16 

Jackson. Andrew 39 

Jackson County (description of) . 100 

Jersey Cattle 109 

Kingston vSprings 73 

Land Agents - 143 

Lands (prices of) 57.58 

Lewis County (description of) 101 

Limonite 47 

Lincoln County (description of) 104 

Lithographic Stone 116 

Livestock 38 

Live Stock (statistics of) 43 

Lookout Mountain (cut) 12 

Manufacturing (facilities for) 55 

Map of Railroad 62,63 

Marshall County (description of) 105 

Maury County (description of) 107 

Mradow Creek Coal 77 

Melrose (cut) 80 

Millet (German) 31 

Minerals 47 

Moore County (description of) 110 

Mountain Limestones 10 

Mt. Pleasant J()8 

Mules '. 40 

Murfreesboro Battlefields 1 18 

Xapier Furnace ]u3 

Nashville & Knowille Railroad 101 

Nashville (statistics of) 85.86 

Natural Divisions.. 8 

Navigable Streams 7 

Oats 27 

O bey's River 13 

Objects to be Attained .._ ..... 145 

Orchard Grass ~[ M) 

Overton County (description of) _"""" \\] 

Peanut Hay ;^l 

Peanuts ' 34 

Perry County (description of) '."..'.'.'.'.. 1 12 



'troleum 



?4 



Phosphates (analysis of) 53 

Phosphates " ....... 49, 98 

Phosphates (statistics of) _52 53' 54 

Pig Iron (statistics of) '40 

Pleasant Hill... ' ~Z 

Polk (tombof) 85 

Pomona... 37 ^ 

Poplar, large (cut) ..."...'..."'.." ' 4 

Population - 

Postoffices ".'.'... ........ 

Potatoes (Irish) " *" 2 8 

Potatoes (Sweet) " .70 

Product, our finest (cut) ~o 

Products, twin (cut) " 43 

Putnam County (description of). " 114 

Railroads _. "" fi0 

Railroad Exhibit (cut) N., C. & St. L. Ry. .'.'_'.'_ 84 

Railroad, miles of ^ 

Rain, inches of '.'.'.'.'.'.".'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'."'.'.'.'.'. ... " • " 14 

Rank, relative, of counties... 130 

Red or cho'-olate soils "" 19 91 115 12° 

Red River 13 14 



148 Index. 

Rivers.. 12, 60 

Rocky River 64 

Rutherford County (description of) 116 

Rye 28 

Scholastic Population $ 

Sheep - 42 

Shetland Ponies... 40 

Shoal Creek 13 

Smith County (description of) HH 

Soils 17 

Soils (varieties of) 22 

Sorghum •_ 31 

Southern Flowers (cut) 66 

Spathite 48 

Square Miles in Middle Tennessee 5 

Statistics of Middle Tennessee 5 

Staves Made 22 

Stream s 11 

St. Louis Limestone 10 

Swine 42 

Swiss Colony 96, 103 

Taylor's Creek 64 

Telegraph, Miles of 6 

Telephone, Miles of 7 

Temperature (highest) 14 

Temperature (lowest) 15 

Temperature (mean) .14, 15 

Tennessee Hoy (cut) 144 

Tennessee River 12 

Thermometer (range of) 15 

Timber 22 

Timber (magnificent) 113 

Timber (Wayne County) 125 

Timothy Hay 30 

Tobacco Barn 75 

Tobacco Field (cut) 32 

Tobacco (heavy shipping) 20. 32 

Tobacco at Hohenwald 102 

Tobacco (yellow) 19, 34. 75 

Topography 11 

Town Creek 64 

Tracy City 96 

Trade of Nashville ...85, 86 

Transportation 60 

Value of Lands 6 7 

Van Buren County (description of) 120 

Voting Population 6 

Warren County (description of) --- 1-1 

Water Falls at Manchester (cut) 73 

Water Power -- tt < 

Wayne County (description of) - 124 

Wesiern Iron Belt --- 47 

Wheat 1 26 

Wheat (prices of) - 27 

White County (description of) 126 

Wilson County (description of). -- 128 

Worley Furnace 89 

Warner Furnace 98 



!RBv0'?9 



